Section 405IAC5-9-2. Restrictions

   (a) Office visits should be appropriate to the diagnosis and treatment given and properly coded.

  (b) New patient office visits are limited to one (1) per member, per provider within the last three (3) years. For purposes of this subsection, "new patient" means one who has not received any professional services from the provider or another provider of the same specialty who belongs to the same group practice within the last three (3) years.

  (c) If a physician uses an emergency room as a substitute for his or her office for nonemergency services, these visits should be billed as an office visit and will be reimbursed as such.

  (d) If a surgical procedure is performed during the course of an office visit, it should be considered that the surgical fee includes the medical visit unless the member has never been seen by the provider prior to the surgical procedure, or the determination to perform surgery is made during the evaluation of the patient. If an evaluation of a separate clinical condition is performed on the same day as the surgery, both the evaluation and the surgery may be separately billed. (Office of the Secretary of Family and Social Services; 405 IAC 5-9-2; filed Jul 25, 1997, 4:00 p.m.: 20 IR 3310; readopted filed Jun 27, 2001, 9:40 a.m.: 24 IR 3822; readopted filed Sep 19, 2007, 12:16 p.m.: 20071010-IR-405070311RFA; readopted filed Oct 28, 2013, 3:18 p.m.: 20131127-IR-405130241RFA; filed Aug 1, 2016, 3:44 p.m.: 20160831-IR-405150418FRA)