Prolonged Services - Reasonableness of Services

Prolonged services are for additional care provided to a beneficiary after an evaluation and management (E/M) service has been performed. Physicians submit claims for prolonged services when they spend additional time beyond the time spent with a beneficiary for a usual companion E/M service. The necessity of prolonged services are considered to be rare and unusual. The Medicare Claims Processing Manual includes requirements that must be met in order to bill for a prolonged E/M service code (Medicare Claims Processing Manual, Pub. 100-04, Ch. 12, §30.6.15.1). We will determine whether Medicare payments to physicians for prolonged E/M services were reasonable and made in accordance with Medicare requirements.

Announced or Revised	Agency	Title	Component	Report Number(s)	Expected Issue Date (FY)
Removed	Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services	Prolonged Services - Reasonableness of Services	Office of Audit Services	W-00-17-35755	Not Applicable