The 2023 Hospital and Nursing Home E/M Visit Coding Changes

A step-by-step approach that saves time coding E/M office visits can now be tailored to hospital and nursing home E/M visits as well. Following the major revisions to coding evaluation and management (E/M) office visits in 2021, a similar revamp has been made for coding E/M visits in other settings. Effective Jan. 1, 2023, the history and physical examination requirements have been eliminated for coding hospital and nursing home visits. As with office visits, hospital and nursing home coding is now based solely on medical decision making (MDM) or total time (except for emergency department visits, which must be coded based on MDM, and hospital discharge visits, which must be coded based on time). This further streamlines E/M coding, creating one unified set of rules for office, nursing home, and hospital visits. Hospital and nursing home E/M visits are divided into three groups: initial services (i.e., admissions), subsequent services, and discharge services.