In the USA, doctors who also have a pharmacist in their surgery, if the latter performs services directly for patients, can regularly invoice these services as "incident to" services, ie inherent to the Medicare patient treatment plan. The Medicare clause authorizing payment for related services rendered by ancillary personnel does not mention or even exclude the pharmacist, while it clearly excludes physician-provided drug management services from Medicare Plan B coverage, but what if the same services are provided by the pharmacist himself? The American Academy of Family Physicians (Aafp) has asked for clarification regarding the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid services (CMS), as the employment of a pharmacist within the physician's office is increasingly common in the United States . The Cms replied that the pharmacist can certainly be understood as ancillary staff and if he provides services directly to patients that fall within the established treatment plan, these can be billed as "inherent". (EL)
