Wound Care and Protective Foam . . .

[Guest guest]

I had the question asked of me how to bill for wound care provided by a

physical therapist in an office setting.

Is it legitimate for a physical therapist to bill for wound care (i.e.

changing dressings, etc.), and how would you bill for that?

The codes that I am looking at are 97601 and 97602. Any advice or

direction would be greatly appreciated.

Penick

Director of Reimbursement Services

Valir Physical Therapy

825 N Broadway, Suite 400

Oklahoma City, OK 73125

[Guest guest]

I believe 97601 has been replaced by 97597 and 97598 depending on the

size of the wound.

97602 would be fine for dressing changes that involve some sort of

debridement.

For us, though, there is $0 reimbursement by medicare for this code.

-Chris

Benfield, P.T.

Director of Rehabilitation

RiverWoods

3201 River Road

burg, PA 17837

Direct:

Main:

Fax:

email: .Benfield@...

Web: www.albrightcare.org <http://www.albrightcare.org/>

________________________________

From: PTManager [mailto:PTManager ] On

Behalf Of bro_brandon

Sent: Monday, October 30, 2006 11:20 AM

To: PTManager

Subject: Wound Care and Protective Foam . . .

I had the question asked of me how to bill for wound care provided by a

physical therapist in an office setting.

Is it legitimate for a physical therapist to bill for wound care (i.e.

changing dressings, etc.), and how would you bill for that?

The codes that I am looking at are 97601 and 97602. Any advice or

direction would be greatly appreciated.

Penick

Director of Reimbursement Services

Valir Physical Therapy

825 N Broadway, Suite 400

Oklahoma City, OK 73125

[Guest guest]

,

First of all, 97601 is no longer a valid CPT code. The

CPT codes for selective debridment are 97597 and 97598

and are based on the total surface area of the wound.

Many Medicare carriers do not reimburse for 97597 and

97598 as they feel it can't be performed by PT's in

the office setting.

Your question comes at an interesting time as CMS

released Transmittal 1086 on 10/27/2006 that addresses

type of service for each CPT code. Here is the link to

that Transmittal:

http://www.cms.hhs.gov/transmittals/downloads/R1086CP.pdf

You will notice under CPT codes 97597 and 97598, it

lists only the number " 1 " which means medical service

and not " u " or " w " which means OT and PT respectively.

97602 is listed with a " 1 " , " u " , and " w " , but CMS does

not reimburse for 97602 so it really does not matter

at this time.

Other payers besides Medicare may or may not reimburse

for 97597 and 97598 performed by a PT. Check with the

specific payer.

Rick Gawenda, PT

Director PM & R

Detroit Receiving Hospital

www.gawendaseminars.com

--- bro_brandon wrote:

> I had the question asked of me how to bill for wound

> care provided by a

> physical therapist in an office setting.

>

> Is it legitimate for a physical therapist to bill

> for <a style='text-decoration: none; border-bottom:

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onmouseover= " window.status='Search for: wound care';

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care</a> (i.e.

> changing dressings, etc.), and how would you bill

> for that?

>

> The codes that I am looking at are 97601 and 97602.

> Any advice or

> direction would be greatly appreciated.

>

> Penick

> Director of Reimbursement Services

> Valir Physical Therapy

> 825 N Broadway, Suite 400

> Oklahoma City, OK 73125

>

>

>

>

>

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