Family physicians may claim Tariff 8594 Complete History and Physical Examination – Unassigned Patient, under certain circumstances when performing complete examinations on patients in the hospital.

Tariff 8594 may be claimed when

• the examination provided is applicable for a complete history and physical examination (as specified in Tariff 8540);
• the purpose of the examination is to either:
  • assess whether admission to hospital is appropriate, or
  • admit the patient to hospital under the care of the examining physician; and
• the examination is performed on an ​“unassigned patient”.

For Tariff 8594, an ​“unassigned patient” is one for whom the examining physician has not claimed Tariff 8540 in respect of that patient in the 12 months before the examination.

Billing Notes

• Other claims made for the patient in the previous 12 months, including 8594, would still render the examination billable under an Unassigned Patient Examination.
• This tariff is to be claimed in lieu of tariff 8540.
• Patients assigned under a physician’s regular family call group and have been billed under 8540 in the previous 12-month are ineligible for 8594
  • This restriction on billing 8594 does not apply to physicians providing ​“Doc of the Day” services.

Virtual?
There is no virtual tariff that covers an unassigned visit examination. Other visit tariffs can be conducted virtually, see our Virtual Visit billing article for more information.