The theory of coding for a locum tenens scenario is surprisingly easy. Assuming the locum is replacing a doctor who is temporarily unavailable (e.g., extended vacation, maternity leave), and provides care for no more than 60 days at a time, the claim would appear identical to the claim submitted by the doctor on leave, with one exception: modifier Q6 needs to be applied to each procedure to indicate that a temporary doctor provided the service(s). The Q6 modifier can be added on the invoice by clicking on each line item and using the “Additional Modifiers” dropdown list. See Example
Here is what the invoice would look like: See Example
Since the NPI on the claim needs to be for the regular provider, that provider will need to be listed as the responsible doctor on the encounter and, in turn, will need to sign the locum’s charts. It will be important, obviously, to indicate within the encounter that it was provided by a doctor other than the “regular” one. This can be accomplished with a notation in a place of your preference (e.g., RFV) or perhaps the use of the Ancillary Participant function on the Coding screen. The customer support team would be happy to help with the latter if that is of interest to you.