A 68-year-old female who is a new Medicare patient is scheduled for a visit with the rheumatologist. She was referred to the rheumatologist by her primary care physician for postmenopausal osteoporosis. The rheumatologist does a comprehensive history, comprehensive examination, and has a medical decision making of moderate complexity.
After a treatment course is finalized, the physician concludes that a dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DEXA) scan is needed. The patient had a bone-mass measurement procedure that was ordered by her primary care physician the previous year, which is unknown to the rheumatologist. He sends her to the imaging room for the procedure and schedules her for a follow-up visit.
How can the rheumatologist make sure that the practice receives reimbursement for the DEXA scan?
