J a n u a r y 2 0 1 7 • O U T PA T I E N T S U R G E R Y. N E T • 2 5
Avoid Common Colonoscopy Billing Blunders
Simple steps to head off confusion about patients' insurance coverage.
A
s if colonoscopy patients don't have enough to worry about,
their insurance coverage can be as hard to stomach as a laxa-
tive prep. But just as a good cleansing prep is a key part of a
colonoscopy, so, too, is a thorough understanding of your patient's
colonoscopy benefits, which can vary widely from one insurance plan
to the next depending on the procedure you perform. Patients who
think their insurance covers everything will surely be disappointed
when you ask for a co-pay or a deductible when what was scheduled
as a "screening" or "surveillance" colonoscopy turned into a biopsy or
a polypectomy procedure. Here are 2 tips to avoid financial headaches
with your GI patients.
Know the specific type of colonoscopy. The GI physician's sched-
uler might be the unwitting source of the confusion. If she calls in
every procedure simply as a "colonoscopy," ask that she specify what
1
Coding & Billing
Stephanie Ellis, rn, CPC
• NO SURPRISES To be sure you don't disappoint patients when you ask for a co-pay
or a deductible, help them understand their insurance coverage before the colonoscopy.
