Hockey, I've discussed the CPE with various folk--there are other takes on it and I haven't decided which I agree with. Some doctors require the first visit to be a CPE. This gets them a small gain in reimbursement (initial cpe vs recurrent cpe) and allows them to review the detailed info of the past medical and family medical history immediatley. It also eliminates those Doc Jumpers who just come in for once a year for a sore throat or UTI and you never see them again as they go to whomever is convenient. It starts them off committing to the practice as a "medical home."
I've never looked at an "Establishing Visit" nor had one for any doctor I went to. BTW, how would you code that Establishing Visit?"
Alot of our patient population is really the 'young and healthy."I mean really. But often they have an acute illness and, since they are young and healthy, don't have a regular doctor. So we see them and have them come back for the CPE. Most do. But I would like to eliminate, or reduce, the new cpe noshows and not having a cpe on a first visit is definitely an option.
