What qualifications must be met for services to be considered “incident to” services?
Services that qualify as an “incident to:”
• must be part of your patient’s normal course of treatment; during which
• a physician personally performed an initial service; and
• remains actively involved in the course of treatment.
You must provide direct supervision by being present in the office suite to assist if necessary. However, you do not have to be physically present in the patient’s treatment room while these services are provided. In addition, the patient record should document the essential requirements for incident to service.
Specifically these services must be characterized by all of the following requirements:
• an integral part of the patient’s course of treatment;
• commonly rendered without charge (included in your physician’s bills);
• of a type commonly furnished in a physician’s office or clinic (not in an institutional setting); and
• an expense to you.
Some examples of qualifying “incident to” services include:
• cardiac rehabilitation;
• the provision of non-self-administrable drugs and other biologicals; and
• supplies usually furnished by the physician in the performance of his/her services (e.g., gauze, ointments, bandages and oxygen). .
