Question
Are there any billing codes for automated hearing testing? How is automated testing differentiated from direct contact? Is automatic testing only considered a screening or is there a diagnostic code for this type of testing?Answer
Medicare will not pay for audiology services unless they are personally delivered with face-to-face contact with a patient. The problem that we have seen is that computerized billing systems have no way of telling if a person was seen face-to-face (attended care) or not (unattended care). We have had discussions with the AMA about "unattended" codes for audiology. This area is new to the CPT system as the joint AMA/Medicare valuation guidelines have been based on attended care. Psychology just obtained new codes to replace their current codes. There was a long discussion about the valuation of services provided directly by a psychologist, a psychometrist or a computer. Interestingly, Medicare valued the personal administration of a psychology test at 2.74 RVUs, while tests administered by a computer were valued at 0.74 RVUs.
Robert C. Fifer, Ph.D. is currently the Director of Audiology and Speech-Language Pathology at the Mailman Center for Child Development, Department of Pediatrics, University of Miami School of Medicine. Dr. Fifer is the President of the Florida Association of Speech-Language Pathologists and Audiologists, a member of ASHA's Health Care Economics Committee, and the ASHA representative to the American Medical Association's Health Care Professions Advisory Committee for the Relative Value Utilization Committee in addition to being ASHA's representative to the AMA's Practice Expense Advisory Committee.
