Use these time-based codes to report discharge services for hospital inpatients or observation care patients. There is significant variability in payment, depending upon the code billed, so it is important to accurately document the time spent on the date of discharge in order to optimize reimbursement.
For these encounters, the level of care is selected based solely on the total time spent on the date of the encounter.
The rules for performing and documenting discharge services are covered extensively in the HOSPITAL DISCHARGE SERVICES course, which includes detailed explanations of the time requirements for each visit.
The 99238 level of care for hospital discharge services is used for visits requiring a total of thirty minutes or less of time spent on the date of discharge.
The 99238 level of care pays about $74.82.
The 99239 level of care for hospital discharge services is used for visits requiring a total of more than thirty minutes of time spent on the date of discharge.
The 99239 level of care pays about $106.55.