Why is the “After Hours” fee (CPT 99051) on my charges when I was seen during the normal operating hours of the Urgent Care Center?
The CPT code 99051 is one of several “urgent care” codes that where added for use at the request of the urgent care industry approximately 6 years ago. For some insurance companies, the use of the codes is restricted to use only in true urgent care practices such as Hill Country Urgent Care and Marble Falls Minor Emergency Center. Some insurance do support the use of some Urgent Care Codes at other physician offices (including primary care) under appropriate circumstances. The CPT description of this code as “after hours” is confusing. . The insurance industry and the AMA has specified that this code is to be used when patients are seen outside of the hours of 8-5 Monday thru Friday and when patients are seen on official federal holidays (M.L. King Day, Memorial Day, Labor Day, etc) in addition to the regular office visit codes (99201-99205 for new patients and 99211-99215 for established patients). In all cases, the code 99051 does not refer to the posted hours of operation, but inste
