As of January 1st many payers started using the new Place of Service Code 10 for telehealth. This code is to be used if the patient was at home during the telehealth session.
How should you know if you should use 10 as the place of service code? Check with the payer. Some payers (such as United Healthcare/Optum Behavioral Health) and Anthem are allowing the 10 Place of Service Code.
Regence Blue Cross Blue Shield indicated online their policy is to accept POS Code 10, but they have been rejecting claims with that code (they have noted they are aware of the erroneous rejections and will be reprocessing the denied claims).
If you are unsured, check with the payer.
How do you know if the patient is truly at home? You have to ask the patient at the start of the telehealth session where the patient is located. What if the patient is at his parents’ house visiting or at another relative? The best advice is if the patient is at the address that is on file with the insurance payer you should consider that “home”; if the patient is anywhere but at that address, you would not consider the patient at home and use the appropriate place of service code for “other than at home” that the payer may want (usually 02, but some payers may want 11).
