I tried to research the codes for various tests and search for them in the CMS physician fee schedule but pretty much just got lost in a whirlwind of acronyms; didn't really know what I was looking for. I had one ECS, who works part time for a group of neurologists, tell me they are billing about $650/visit and he is earning about half that considering it is the neurologists' practice and all he pretty much does is show up, test patients, and complete the notes. I guess what I am really looking for is confirmation of these numbers and to get an idea of the $ these PTs are making who are doing it full time and/or independently.
Looks like medicare is reimbursing ~$340 per bilateral study. I observed a PT,ECS a couple weeks ago; he did 3 bilateral studies in <3hrs. Let's say I worked a VERY conservative 40 weeks/year, 5 days/week, 8hrs/day, 6 tests/day (leaving time for study interpretation/notes) = $408,000 in reimbursement. Same scenario doing 8 tests/day = $544,000. Or how about 45 weeks/year, 5 days/week, 8 tests/day = $612,000.
You'd be putting yourself in a very bad position should reimbursement change down the line if this was your entire business model.
Wrong.
It's not a theory. PTs are, indeed, filling their schedules exclusively with ENMG in large metro areas. Your doubt has been resolved. That's the point.
I suppose I'll repost a couple of my previous comments here for your convenience: "From what I can tell, this specialty is quite difficult to get into.", "There are a lot of hurdles to jump to get into it e.g. training/mentorship, certification, hardware/software costs, physician referral sources, state practice acts."
