Discharge day management coding
Don’t forget to bill for discharge day management the day you discharge your patient.
| Code | Description | Medicare payment (2002) |
| 99238 | Hospital discharge day management; 30 minutes or less | $63.63 |
| 99239 | Hospital discharge day management; more than 30 minutes | $87.35 |
Discharge day management
- Discharge Day Management codes are used by the attending physician who discharges the patient from the hospital. Discharge Day Management codes are used to report the total duration of time spent by a physician for all services performed as part of the hospital discharge. Since the discharge day management codes are time based, you must document the “total time” spent performing these services in the patient’s medical record.
- Time spent by the physician does not have to be continuous.
- In order for the teaching physician to bill Medicare for these services he/she must personally perform and document any or all of the following components stated below: (cannot count resident's time spent performing these services)
- Discussion of the hospital stay with the patient
- Final examination
- Planning and instructions for continuing and follow up care to all relevant caregivers
- Preparation of discharge records, prescriptions and referral forms
Please note: Medicare will not pay for a Subsequent Hospital Visit (DC) and Discharge Management (DP) on the same day by the same physician. Therefore, bill the DP only on the day of discharge.
- Bill for discharge day management on the day of discharge.
- On your billing card/sheet, document DP1 or DP2.
DP1 = hospital discharge day management; 30 minutes or less
DP2 = hospital discharge day management; more than 30 minutes
