Q&A: Units that do not furnish billable clinical services

Q. What are some examples of hospital departments that do not furnish clinical services and would not be considered provider-based?

A. A hospital unit must provide billable clinical services in order to be considered a provider-based department. Therefore, administrative departments or units of the hospital that do not furnish billable clinical services are not considered to be provider-based departments. These include, for example:

• Laundry
• Medical records
• Materials management
• Compliance
• Nursing administration
• Volunteers
• Biomedical engineering
• Patient financial services
• Public relations
• Central supply
• Transport services
• Utilization management
• Performance improvement
• Dietary
• Admitting
• Security
• Pharmacy

For more information, see Provider-Based Entities: A Guide to Regulatory and Billing Compliance, Second Edition.

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