Help patients transition to home care.

According to the definition of these services in CPT® 2021 Professional Edition, published by the American Medical Association, TCM services “are for a new or established patient whose medical and/or psychosocial problems require moderate or high complexity medical decision making during transitions in care from an inpatient hospital setting (including acute hospital, rehabilitation hospital, long-term acute care hospital), partial hospital, observation status in a hospital, or skilled nursing facility to the patient’s community setting (home, domiciliary, rest home, or assisted living).”

TCM is composed of both face-to-face and non-face-to-face services. Unlike most other evaluation and management (E/M) codes, TCM services span a period of time versus a single snapshot date of service. Time devoted to the entirety of the service begins upon discharge from an acute care facility to the patient’s community setting and continues for the next 29 days. The service is billed at the end of this period, with a date of service at least 30 days post-discharge.