The old insurance/Medicare rules supposedly said that we, as the consultant, needed to have communication with the referring physician acknowledging the "consult" and providing an opinion without taking over full care for the patient.
That's why I still send the letter with the single sentence saying, "Thanks for asking me to see Joe for 'my opinion'"
Of course, now that Medicare has gotten rid of consults, it's worthless but I keep the habit just in case any of the insurance companies who still allow consults want to battle me
