Admission billing codes in ER

One month ago, I wrote an entry about basic ER billing.

As a follow up, here is some clarification about admission codes.

There are three codes a ER doctor can use for the admission: H105, C004 and C933.

H105 is for "interim admission orders". In one ER I used to work in in the past, the ER docs would write the admission order, but would not dictate/write the admission note. Once the patient was brought up to the floor, the family doctor would dictate the admission note and would become "the most responsible physician." In this case, H105 ($18.10) would be an appropriate code to use. Think of it as the admission reassessment.

C004 is for an admission somewhat more involved. The ER doctor would write the admission orders, do the dictation for the admission note, but the patient would still be admitted under another doctor; the ER doctor is not going to follow during the admission.  Use C004 ($30.70) for such an admission.

C933 ($79.20) is for the case where you would admit the patient under yourself, and you will become the most responsible physician during the admission.