A consultation may be more than one visit.
A consultation continues until definite diagnosis is made and treatment begins.
Example: An orthopedic consultant evaluates a patient with knee pain. The consultant does not develop a diagnosis and recommends conservative treatment. There is no improvement with the treatment. During the next visit (coded as a consult as there is still no definitive diagnosis), a decision for an arthroscopy is reached due to the continued pain (still no definitive diagnosis). The arthroscopy is completed with shaved plicae. Any future visits for this problem will be coded as office visits, as there are both a diagnosis and treatment.
