Implications for cardiology nurse practitioner billing: a comparison of hospital versus office practice.

PURPOSE To discuss the implications for cardiology nurse practitioner (NP) billing and compare and contrast inpatient Medicare billing practices versus outpatient Medicare billing practices. DATA SOURCES Selected articles, text books, and government websites. CONCLUSIONS In today's complex and expensive healthcare system, there has been a steady decline in the reimbursement rate for professional services to hospitals and physicians. NPs can have a significant impact on reducing this decline by billing for services provided. IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE The cardiology NP can enhance institutional reimbursement quality and patient safety. The different billing methods such as independent billing, shared billing, and incident to billing by the cardiology NP can be complex.