PDFWAC 182-531-1250
Physician standby services.
(1) The department reimburses physician standby services only when the standby physician does not provide care or service to other clients during this period, and either:
(a) The services are provided in conjunction with newborn care history and examination, or result in an admission to a neonatal intensive care unit on the same day; or
(b) A physician requests another physician to stand by, resulting in the prolonged attendance by the second physician without face-to-face client contact.
(2) The department does not reimburse physician standby services when any of the following occur:
(a) The standby ends in a surgery or procedure included in a global surgical reimbursement;
(b) The standby period is less than thirty minutes; or
(c) Time is spent proctoring another physician.
(3) One unit of physician standby service equals thirty minutes. The department reimburses subsequent periods of physician standby service only when full thirty minutes of standby is provided for each unit billed. The department rounds down fractions of a thirty-minute time unit.
(4) The provider must clearly document the need for physician standby services in the client's medical record.