FGP Gram Released April 16, 2008
The Board of the Faculty Group Practice (FGP) approved a new policy on physician and medical student documentation for billing purposes. Effective May 12, 2008, medical students may NOT be used as scribes. This policy change clarifies compliance with federal regulations and other payer requirements and is important to ensure appropriate reimbursement for professional services.
To facilitate implementation of this policy, medical students will use a new documentation type and process in CareWeb to record their notes. Attending physicians and house officers will be responsible for personally performing and documenting their services.
Summary of the new policy:Medical students may continue to document in CareWeb using the new Medical Student Worksheet. However, as of 5/12/08, their notes cannot be used for billing purposes and medical students cannot serve as scribes. Attending physicians and house officers are responsible for personally performing and documenting their services. A physician (attending or house officer) must provide the billable service and personally document his/her own HPI, exam, and evaluation and management of the patient. The physician (attending or house officer) may refer to the Review of Systems (ROS) and Past Medical, Family, and Social History (PMFSH) noted by the medical student in the same document when completing a note using Create Doc. If the physician (attending or house officer) dictates a note, they may not refer to the medical student’s ROS or PMFSH and must dictate it in their note. As always, faculty should provide feedback to medical students and edit medical student notes as needed for educational purposes.
Detailed instructions for using the new Medical Student worksheet and process will be distributed in the next few weeks. In the meantime, the full policy, and FAQ about this change, and a flow chart that illustrates the new process are available online at: http://www.med.umich.edu/u/compliance/billing/student/
Also, several training sessions have been scheduled. Each session will include a CareWeb demonstration and ample time for Q&A. Refreshments will also be served.
Monday, May 5, 8:00-9:00 am, Ford Amphitheatre, 2nd Floor UH
Monday, May 5, 4:00-5:00 pm, Ford Amphitheatre, 2nd Floor UH
Friday, May 9, 12:00 noon to 1:00 pm, MCHC Auditorium, 2nd Floor Mott/UH Link
Generic Medical Student Worksheet templates are available in CareWeb Create Doc. Departments/providers may wish to modify the templates to capture specialty-specific information. Please send proposed templates to Kristin Scarcella at kriscoll@med.umich.edu for posting in Create Doc ASAP.
Questions and comments should be directed to Dr. Margie Andreae, Medical Director, Professional Billing at andreae@umich.edu or (734) 647-5167.
This information can also be found on the FGP website at http://www.med.umich.edu/i/medschool/fgp/grams.htm