Is there a minimum amount of time a treatment must be provided for an untimed code like unattended stim?
Answer
No. There is not. Those are untimed. What would be looked at is the professional standard. The professional standard or the provider’s manual that comes with that particular device typically has recommended parameters; time of which is one. If you are staying within the norms of your industry, then that is fine. If you place an electrical stimulation unit on a patient for five minutes for no reason and if I saw that a lot, I would be very concerned. I would probably consider it billable if you had a good reason, which should be documented. In most situations, when you would do such a small amount of time, the efficacy of that particular modality would most likely not be optimal.
Mary R. Daulong, PT, CHC, CHP
Mary Daulong, PT, CHC, CHP is a physical therapist and is also certified in Healthcare Compliance by the Health Care Compliance Certification Board and the HIPAA Academy. Her consulting company, Business & Clinical Management Services, Inc. was established in 1985 and has been, for the past dozen years, 100% dedicated to working with rehab professionals in the areas of federal and state compliance, provider enrollment, practice and business office audits/surveys, payment policy: billing, coding, documentation and compliance policy and procedure manual production.
Mary is chair of the TPTA’s Payment Policy Committee, is a member of the Private Practice Payment Policy Committee and is the representative for PT & OT for Jurisdiction JH. She is also on Novitas Solutions’ Provider Outreach Education Advisory Board and has been recently served on Novitas Solutions’ JH Transition Consulting Team.
Mary has been a featured speaker at National, State and Section Annual Conferences and is one of the contributing authors to “Compliance Corner” for the Private Practice Section’s Impact Magazine.
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