Can A Dietician Bill Insurance

My serum cholesterol was over 250 at one point and i was told to eat a fat free diet.

Can a dietician bill insurance. Guide to insurance and reimbursement by krista ulatowski mph rdn today s dietitian vol. It is your responsibility to contact a member services representative to verify coverage. Working as an acute care dietitian presents both challenges and opportunities when it comes to insurance billing and reimbursement.

Needs to fully appreciate how the reimbursement process works and be aware of systems to monitor for changes by various insurance payers in billing and or reimbursement process. According to a report by the national academy of sciences institute of medicine iom getting nutritional therapy is cost effective. Bill for nutrition services and the steps criteria for doing so.

Although billing directly for inpatient nutrition services is not possible at this time acute care dietitians still have opportunities to bill insurance companies for their services in areas connected to acute care. It is within the scope of practice of a dietitian to calculate a patient s bmi code. Verify coverage your nutrition counseling appointments may be covered if you are a member of bluecross blueshield medica or medicare.

Many insurance plans cover a certain number of sessions per year. The only exception in which a dietitian can determine a diagnosis is in the case of bmi codes. It cannot only improve an individual s health but it also can save money on health care costs.

You may therefore get more business from insurance clients because they are more likely to return for all the sessions they have covered. Insurance coverage for nutrition counseling. Most health insurance policies will cover nutrition counseling through a dietician though under what circumstances can vary significantly from one insurance carrier to another and from policy to policy.

Ask new private practice dietitians about one of the most challenging tasks they face in establishing their businesses and they ll likely wrinkle their noses and say insurance. Depending on a patient s particular insurance and policy bmi code can often be used with the preventative code z71 3. Nutrition therapy often can be a helpful component in medical therapy but often it is not covered by insurance.