Interviews

Fee code 359 may only be claimed by Psychiatrists providing continuing care of hospital in-patients as the attending physician. It is payable once during a period of admission on the day the patient is discharged from hospital. It can be billed in addition to the applicable SHV code. It can be billed in addition to fee code 352 or 353 if applicable. The billing physician is responsible for:

 preparing the discharge summary at the time of discharge and forwarding a copy to the patient’s family physician. The discharge summary must include: 

o psychiatric diagnosis;

o medical diagnosis; 

o medication recommendations including: 

- list of medication trials including reasons for discontinuing (i.e. intolerances, allergies, etc);

- current medications including recommendations for dosage adjustment and duration of treatment;

- monitoring that will be required while taking specific medications; and 

- any cautions regarding medications

o relevant risk management recommendations (i.e. suicide, psychosis, driving, urine drug screening, etc); and 

o relevant information from other mental health services to include: - interventions utilized; - ongoing psycho-social needs; and - follow-up required with mental health services.

  providing information and advice to the patient or patient’s representative on matters related to the patient’s diagnosis/care; and 

 arranging follow up care as necessary. 

Interviews

In specific clinical settings, interviews are insured services and may be claimed using the appropriate visit code and the patient’s MCP number. Eligibility of claiming for these services is limited to the following specialties: 

 Developmental Neurology* 

 Paediatrics 

 Developmental Paediatrics* 

 Physiatry* 

 Psychiatry* * 

Where the fee payable for interviews is based on time units, the start and finish times of the interview for which payment is being claimed must be part of the patient record of that service.

Newborn Baby Care 

This is the routine in-hospital care of a well baby for up to 10 days following delivery. This service should include a complete physical examination of the baby and necessary instructions to the mother. 

For care of a sick newborn, the appropriate visit codes should be claimed.