other drs signing off on your chart

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Just wanted to know if anyone knows of any laws on another dr signing off on your chart without actually seeing the patient because you are not credentialed with the insurance the patient has. I had a Dr sign off on my charts and only performed NCT, autorefractor, and ask CC because I was not credentialed with the insurance companies and she was. I don't think I even had Medicare at that point and I know under some law as long as the Dr has Medicare there is a 1 to 2 month grace period to bill the patient under another Dr's name. I am a licensed optometrist. Any feedback would be helpful! Thanks!

Originally Posted by optisforme

Just wanted to know if anyone knows of any laws on another dr signing off on your chart without actually seeing the patient because you are not credentialed with the insurance the patient has. I had a Dr sign off on my charts and only performed NCT, autorefractor, and ask CC because I was not credentialed with the insurance companies and she was. I don't think I even had Medicare at that point and I know under some law as long as the Dr has Medicare there is a 1 to 2 month grace period to bill the patient under another Dr's name. I am a licensed optometrist. Any feedback would be helpful! Thanks!

I'm not an expert, but I believe the appropriate fashion is for the doctor who actually saw the patient sign the chart and the "senior" doc "endorse/sign" the chart. This is like (but not necessarily similar) to a resident and attending physician relationship.

Originally Posted by optisforme

Just wanted to know if anyone knows of any laws on another dr signing off on your chart without actually seeing the patient because you are not credentialed with the insurance the patient has. I had a Dr sign off on my charts and only performed NCT, autorefractor, and ask CC because I was not credentialed with the insurance companies and she was. I don't think I even had Medicare at that point and I know under some law as long as the Dr has Medicare there is a 1 to 2 month grace period to bill the patient under another Dr's name. I am a licensed optometrist. Any feedback would be helpful! Thanks!

I would expect a licensed optometrist to know the law.

Originally Posted by CL Doc

I would expect a licensed optometrist to know the law.

Maybe your state is different, but there are no laws about that sort of thing where I am (medicine or optometry).

Originally Posted by VA Hopeful Dr

Maybe your state is different, but there are no laws about that sort of thing where I am (medicine or optometry).

I think the intent of the question wasn't a question of the practice or scope of optometry but whether the process would comply with insurance contracts for documentation to support a claim submission. Does the doctor who saw the patient have to be the same doctor who submits the claim? Can a doctor delegate the authority to submit a claim if the examining and signing doctor is not credentialed with that medical plan?

CMS does not allow for any grace period on a non-credentialed doc, as far as I know. You can have a non-credentialed doctor perform whatever he or she wants, but the signing doctor must be credentialed and must perform the required number of exam elements, and certain history components must be done by the signing doctor.

That's not to say that credentialed docs don't sign off for non-credentialed docs, but with EMR now recording who is signed in during exam periods, an auditor will know (or at least could claim) that someone other than the signing doc did the required elements.

CMS, other medical insurers, and even vision insurers are starting to get much more aggressive with their auditing tactics.

Originally Posted by optisforme

Just wanted to know if anyone knows of any laws on another dr signing off on your chart without actually seeing the patient because you are not credentialed with the insurance the patient has. I had a Dr sign off on my charts and only performed NCT, autorefractor, and ask CC because I was not credentialed with the insurance companies and she was. I don't think I even had Medicare at that point and I know under some law as long as the Dr has Medicare there is a 1 to 2 month grace period to bill the patient under another Dr's name. I am a licensed optometrist. Any feedback would be helpful! Thanks!

Is there something in particular that you're concerned about?

Originally Posted by KHE

Is there something in particular that you're concerned about?

My boss manages multiple offices and keeps putting me in an office no one wants to work at but that's where she happens to be and says that I have to be there for the time bring bc I am not credentialed with insurances yet so she needs to sign my charts. I just wanted to check if that was an excuse to put me there or if what she was doing was right. I'm fairly new so didn't want her to think she could take advantage of me.