Title 42

SECTION 414.310

414.310 Determination of reasonable charges for physician services furnished to renal dialysis patients.

§ 414.310 Determination of reasonable charges for physician services furnished to renal dialysis patients.

(a) Principle. Physician services furnished to renal dialysis patients are subject to payment if the services are otherwise covered by the Medicare program and if they are considered reasonable and medically necessary in accordance with section 1862(a)(1)(A) of the Act.

(b) Scope and applicability - (1) Scope. This section pertains to physician services furnished to the following patients:

(i) Outpatient maintenance dialysis patients who dialyze -

(A) In an independent or hospital-based ESRD facility, or

(B) At home.

(ii) Hospital inpatients for which the physician elects to continue payment under the monthly capitation payment (MCP) method described in § 414.314.

(2) Applicability. These provisions apply to routine professional services of physicians. They do not apply to administrative services performed by physicians, which are paid for as part of a prospective payment for dialysis services made to the facility under § 413.170 of this chapter.

Administrative services are physician services that are differentiated from routine professional services and other physician services because they are supervision, as described in the definition of “supervision of staff” of this section, or are not related directly to the care of an individual patient, but are supportive of the facility as a whole and of benefit to patients in general. Examples of administrative services include supervision of staff, staff training, participation in staff conferences and in the management of the facility, and advising staff on the procurement of supplies.

Dialysis session is the period of time that begins when the patient arrives at the facility and ends when the patient departs from the facility. In the case of home dialysis, the period begins when the patient prepares for dialysis and generally ends when the patient is disconnected from the machine. In this context, a dialysis facility includes only those parts of the building used as a facility. It does not include any areas used as a physician's office.

Medical direction, in contrast to supervision of staff, is a routine professional service that entails substantial direct involvement and the physical presence of the physician in the delivery of services directly to the patient.

Routine professional services include all physicians' services furnished during a dialysis session and all services listed in paragraph (d) of this section that meet the following requirements:

(1) They are personally furnished by a physician to an individual patient.

(2) They contribute directly to the diagnosis or treatment of an individual patient.

(3) They ordinarily must be performed by a physician.

Supervision of staff, in contrast to medical direction, is an administrative service that does not necessarily require the physician to be present at the dialysis session. It is a general activity primarily concerned with monitoring performance of and giving guidance to other health care personnel (such as nurses and dialysis technicians) who deliver services to patients.

(d) Types of routine professional services. Routine professional services include at least all of the following services when medically appropriate:

(1) Visits to the patient during dialysis, and review of laboratory test results, nurses' notes and any other medical documentation, as a basis for -

(i) Adjustment of the patient's medication or diet, or the dialysis procedure;

(ii) Prescription of medical supplies; and

(iii) Evaluation of the patient's psychosocial status and the appropriateness of the treatment modality.

(2) Medical direction of staff in delivering services to a patient during a dialysis session.

(3) Pre-dialysis and post-dialysis examinations, or examinations that could have been furnished on a pre-dialysis or post-dialysis basis.

(4) Insertion of catheters for patients who are on peritoneal dialysis and do not have indwelling catheters.

(e) Payment for routine professional services. Beginning August 7, 1990, routine professional services furnished by physicians may be paid under either the “initial method” of payment described in § 414.313, (if all of the physicians at the facility elect the initial method) or under the “physician MCP method” described in § 414.314. Physician services furnished after July 31, 1983 and before August 6, 1990, are payable only under the MCP method described in § 414.314.