Medical and surgical services furnished by an intern or resident within the scope of his or her training program are covered as provider services and Medicare pays for them through Direct Graduate Medical Education (DGME) and Indirect Medical Education (IME) payments. These services may not be billed or paid under the Medicare PFS. When interns or residents are in an approved program and training in a nonprovider setting, the services furnished are payable in one of the following ways:

a. Through DGME and IME payments to the hospital(s), if, among other things, he or she: Provides patient care activities and the hospital(s) incurs salary and fringe benefits of the resident or intern during the time spent in the nonprovider setting; or

b. For DGME purposes, spends time in certain nonpatient care activities in certain nonprovider settings and the hospital(s) incurs salary and fringe benefits of the resident or intern during the time he or she spent in the nonprovider setting; or

c. Through the Medicare PFS if, in part, the regulations concerning the hospital’s receipt of DGME and IME payments are not met for the time spent in a nonprovider setting, and the time spent in the nonprovider setting is not counted by the hospital for DGME and IME payment purpose.

Please join Mr. Seth Canterbury for the Medicare’s Teaching Physician Billing Guidelines conference.