Article Detail - JE Part A
Evaluation and Management: Prescription Drug Management
The American Medical Association (AMA) owns the CPT codes and CMS has an agreement with the AMA to use these codes. When CMS does not develop separate policy, Noridian will follow the AMA Evaluation and Management (E/M) guidelines.
Prescription drug management may be part of the Medical Decision Making (MDM) element when choosing the level of E/M code supported by documentation. The variables involved when determining the risk will depend on the patient's condition(s), age, co-morbidities, lifestyle, and other medications. One patient with Coronary Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) will have different risks when compared to other patients with COPD. One may be older, one may have diminished health, or one may have cancer with COPD.
Prescription drug management is based on documented evidence that the provider has evaluated the patient's medications as part of an E/M visit. There is a mindset that because it says prescription (RX) management, if a provider prescribes, the risk level qualifies as moderate. A prescription being written or discontinued, or a decision to maintain a current medication or dosage would need to be supported in documentation that the provider evaluated the medications.
Note: Simply listing current medications is not considered "prescription drug management."
Documentation for prescription drug management would need to show the work and/or risk involved by the billing provider when managing a prescription.
- Is the prescription something that could be harmful to the patient's health?
- Will it interact with other drugs the patient is taking?
- Is the prescription a non-complex drug for a patient with no allergies or complications? Example – a patient taking anticoagulants.
- Did the patient have a stroke and is there a risk they may sustain a subsequent hemorrhage?
Additional considerations for prescription drugs that may support risk management when included in the documentation:
- Ability of a patient to self-administer the medication. Education to the patient on performing injectables or ability to open a pill bottle and take a pill out.
- Caregiver or family member at home to monitor the effects of the drug.
- Any concern about the patient's understanding with taking their medication.
Adding new or deleting drug(s) should include narrative in the medical note to explain why the change was made.
If determining the level of E/M code based on total time, the MDM elements would not apply.
Appropriate documentation of prescription drug management continues to be an opportunity for many physicians. Doctors need to know that simply adding the current medication list to the progress note is not adequate. Prescription drug management is based on documented evidence that the physician has evaluated medications as part of a service that is provided. Physicians should make a direct connection between the medication that is prescribed to the patient and the work that was performed on the day of the clinic visit, such as: "Stable hypertension; continue valsartan 10 milligrams, will refill for 4 months until next follow-up visit." Simply stating that the medication list was reviewed will not meet the definition of prescription management.
AMA 2023 Webinar Questions and Answers
There is no "blanket" guidance for services to represent specific levels of risk. The physician is responsible for assessing (and documenting) the level of risk of the services to be performed including medicine management, (prescription or OTC), based on a specific patient's risk factors and the risks typically seen with the drug. For example, an NSAID in a person with kidney disease or on anticoagulant is of greater concern than most prescription drugs. Simply reviewing a medication list does NOT constitute prescription drug management.
Additional Resource
This article is written at the suggestion of the Provider Outreach and Education Advisory Group.
