Prolonged detention or critical care is a specific service which requires the continuous presence of the doctor in the immediate vicinity of the patient while providing a service which only he or she can provide.

The terminology for critical care codes 99291 and 99292 specifies that the codes and number of services billed for these services rendered by a physician must be reported using the actual amount of time spent with the patient.

See the Table Attachment below for examples of the proper way to bill for critical care services.

Critical care of less than 30 minutes total duration on a given date should be reported with the appropriate E&M code.

Code 99291 is used to report the first 30-74 minutes of critical care on any given date. It should be used only once per date, even if the time spent by the physician is not continuous on that date.

Code 99292 is used to report each additional 30 minutes beyond the first 74 minutes. It also may be used to report the final 15-30 minutes of critical care on a given date.

Critical Care services of less than 15 minutes beyond the first 74 minutes or less than 15 minutes beyond the final 30 minutes are not reported separately.

NOTE:

See Medical Policy Bulletin V-11 for information on ventilatory assistance.

See Medical Policy Bulletin V-13 for information on maternal/neonatal retrieval and the transportation of critically ill patients.

NOTE:

This policy is designed to address medical guidelines that are appropriate for the majority of individuals with a particular disease, illness, or condition. Each person's unique clinical circumstances may warrant individual consideration, based on review of applicable medical records.

Prolonged Detention or Critical Care is also eligible in the outpatient hospital (20) and emergency room (2E) places of service. The criteria listed above are applicable to outpatient hospital and emergency room Prolonged Detention or Critical Care.

PRN References

08/1993, Reporting PDC or critical care
02/2000, Critical care reporting