[Code of Federal Regulations]
[Title 42, Volume 2]
[Revised as of October 1, 2002]
From the U.S. Government Printing Office via GPO Access
[CITE: 42CFR414.310]

[Page 644-645]
 
                         TITLE 42--PUBLIC HEALTH
 
                             HUMAN SERVICES
 
PART 414--PAYMENT FOR PART B MEDICAL AND OTHER HEALTH SERVICES--Table of Contents
 
  Subpart E--Determination of Reasonable Charges Under the ESRD Program
 
Sec. 414.310  Determination of reasonable charges for physician services furnished to renal dialysis patients.

    (a) Principle. Physician services furnished to renal dialysis 
patients are subject to payment if the services are otherwise covered by 
the Medicare program and if they are considered reasonable and medically 
necessary in accordance with section 1862(a)(1)(A) of the Act.
    (b) Scope and applicability--(1) Scope. This section pertains to 
physician services furnished to the following patients:
    (i) Outpatient maintenance dialysis patients who dialyze--
    (A) In an independent or hospital-based ESRD facility, or
    (B) At home.
    (ii) Hospital inpatients for which the physician elects to continue 
payment under the monthly capitation payment (MCP) method described in 
Sec. 414.314.
    (2) Applicability. These provisions apply to routine professional 
services

[[Page 645]]

of physicians. They do not apply to administrative services performed by 
physicians, which are paid for as part of a prospective payment for 
dialysis services made to the facility under Sec. 413.170 of this 
chapter.
    (c) Definitions. For purposes of this section, the following 
definitions apply:
    Administrative services are physician services that are 
differentiated from routine professional services and other physician 
services because they are supervision, as described in the definition of 
``supervision of staff'' of this section, or are not related directly to 
the care of an individual patient, but are supportive of the facility as 
a whole and of benefit to patients in general. Examples of 
administrative services include supervision of staff, staff training, 
participation in staff conferences and in the management of the 
facility, and advising staff on the procurement of supplies.
    Dialysis session is the period of time that begins when the patient 
arrives at the facility and ends when the patient departs from the 
facility. In the case of home dialysis, the period begins when the 
patient prepares for dialysis and generally ends when the patient is 
disconnected from the machine. In this context, a dialysis facility 
includes only those parts of the building used as a facility. It does 
not include any areas used as a physician's office.
    Medical direction, in contrast to supervision of staff, is a routine 
professional service that entails substantial direct involvement and the 
physical presence of the physician in the delivery of services directly 
to the patient.
    Routine professional services include all physicians' services 
furnished during a dialysis session and all services listed in paragraph 
(d) of this section that meet the following requirements:
    (1) They are personally furnished by a physician to an individual 
patient.
    (2) They contribute directly to the diagnosis or treatment of an 
individual patient.
    (3) They ordinarily must be performed by a physician.
    Supervision of staff, in contrast to medical direction, is an 
administrative service that does not necessarily require the physician 
to be present at the dialysis session. It is a general activity 
primarily concerned with monitoring performance of and giving guidance 
to other health care personnel (such as nurses and dialysis technicians) 
who deliver services to patients.
    (d) Types of routine professional services. Routine professional 
services include at least all of the following services when medically 
appropriate:
    (1) Visits to the patient during dialysis, and review of laboratory 
test results, nurses' notes and any other medical documentation, as a 
basis for--
    (i) Adjustment of the patient's medication or diet, or the dialysis 
procedure;
    (ii) Prescription of medical supplies; and
    (iii) Evaluation of the patient's psychosocial status and the 
appropriateness of the treatment modality.
    (2) Medical direction of staff in delivering services to a patient 
during a dialysis session.
    (3) Pre-dialysis and post-dialysis examinations, or examinations 
that could have been furnished on a pre-dialysis or post-dialysis basis.
    (4) Insertion of catheters for patients who are on peritoneal 
dialysis and do not have indwelling catheters.
    (e) Payment for routine professional services. Beginning August 7, 
1990, routine professional services furnished by physicians may be paid 
under either the ``initial method'' of payment described in 
Sec. 414.313, (if all of the physicians at the facility elect the 
initial method) or under the ``physician MCP method'' described in 
Sec. 414.314. Physician services furnished after July 31, 1983 and 
before August 6, 1990, are payable only under the MCP method described 
in Sec. 414.314.