Not sure I understand this practice. Who's taking the vitals, a med assistant, a lab tech, or a nurse practitioner? Seems like the only way an office visit could be charged is if you see a provider, physician or nurse practitioner. I would call my ins company and ask if they know they are paying for an office visit when a provider was not seen. Med records used to have to back up any office visit and I actually thought this is still true today. My understanding is that every visit should (or must?) have a format in which they obtain the reason for your visit, a review of systems, an exam and then an assessment and plan. They must have found some loophole and I find this shameful. I am in the med field and just can't believe they are doing something like this.
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