A consultation may be
more than one visit.
A consultation continues until definite diagnosis is made and treatment
begins.
Example: An orthopedic consultant evaluates a patient with knee
pain. The consultant does not develop a diagnosis and recommends conservative
treatment. There is no improvement with the treatment. During the
next visit (coded as a consult as there is still no definitive diagnosis), a
decision for an arthroscopy is reached due to the continued pain (still no
definitive diagnosis). The arthroscopy is completed with shaved
plicae. Any future visits for this problem will be coded as office
visits, as there are both a diagnosis and treatment.
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