GOÄ 61B IV — Visiten, Konsiliartätigkeit, Besuche, Assistenz130 points

GOÄ Number 61: the assistance with another physician's medical service

Fee

17,43 €130 points × 5,82873 Cent × 2,3

The point count stands as written in the Gebührenverzeichnis; the point value stands in § 5 Abs. 1 Satz 3 GOÄ. The amounts are computed from these and rounded to the cent, as § 5 Abs. 1 Satz 4 requires. Which multiplier is appropriate in an individual case is set by § 5 Abs. 2 according to difficulty, time taken and the circumstances of performance — the practice decides that, not this table.

Service text

„Beistand bei der ärztlichen Leistung eines anderen Arztes (Assistenz), je angefangene halbe Stunde“

Not alongside — per the Gebührenverzeichnis (1)

Numbers the fee schedule names together with this one in an exclusion sentence. Open a chip for the wording, in German, and where it stands; about a particular case the sentence says only what it says.

Number 61 values the assistance one physician gives another physician with that physician's medical service — the Assistenz —, for each commenced unit of the duration named in the text, at 130 points. That gives 7,58 € at the single rate and 17,43 € at the 2.3-fold rate. It is billed by the assisting physician for their own time, not alongside other services, and not by physicians called in for an anaesthetic.

The service text of Number 61

Number 61 does not value the service being assisted, but the assistance itself: the time the assisting physician spends alongside the treating or operating physician. It is billed by the assisting physician, for their own time, for each commenced unit.

The service text equates the assistance, in parentheses, with „Assistenz“ — a term the ordinance does not explain further at this point, but describes through the service text itself: assistance with another physician's medical service.

Three conditions narrow the number. It does not stand alongside other services, it does not apply to physicians called in for an anaesthetic, and it may not be billed where the assistance is provided by physicians not entitled to bill privately — a term the ordinance assumes at this point without defining it.

What sets it apart from Number 62 is who bills it: Number 61 belongs to the assisting physician, Number 62 to the physician who calls in the assistant. Billing both for the same assistance is excluded by the provision under Number 62.

The sentences below stand exactly like this in the Gebührenverzeichnis — some directly under Number 61, one under Number 62, one an Allgemeine Bestimmung of Abschnitt B, and one under Number 435. They are quoted here in German, word for word rather than summarized, because the German wording is what is legally binding: the sentence that excludes two numbers from each other is exactly the sentence that matters, and a paraphrase of it would be a claim of its own. The English text after each dash is a working translation, not a substitute for the statutory wording.

„Die Leistung nach Nummer 61 ist neben anderen Leistungen nicht berechnungsfähig.“ — The service under Number 61 is not billable alongside other services.
„Die Nummer 61 gilt nicht für Ärzte, die zur Ausführung einer Narkose hinzugezogen werden.“ — Number 61 does not apply to physicians called in to administer an anaesthetic.
„Die Leistung nach Nummer 61 darf nicht berechnet werden, wenn die Assistenz durch nicht liquidationsberechtigte Ärzte erfolgt.“ — The service under Number 61 may not be billed where the assistance is provided by physicians not entitled to bill privately.
„Wird die Leistung nach Nummer 62 berechnet, kann der assistierende Arzt die Leistung nach Nummer 61 nicht berechnen.“ — Where the service under Number 62 is billed, the assisting physician cannot bill the service under Number 61.
„Als Behandlungsfall gilt für die Behandlung derselben Erkrankung der Zeitraum eines Monats nach der jeweils ersten Inanspruchnahme des Arztes.“ — For treatment of the same illness, the treatment case is the period of one month after the patient's first attendance.
„Neben der Leistung nach Nummer 435 sind für die Dauer der stationären intensivmedizinischen Überwachung und Behandlung Leistungen nach den Abschnitten C III und M sowie die Leistungen nach den Nummern 1 bis 56, 61 bis 96, 200 bis 211, 247, 250 bis 268, 270 bis 286a, 288 bis 298, 401 bis 424, 427 bis 433, 483 bis 485, 488 bis 490, 500, 501, 505, 600 bis 609, 634 bis 648, 650 bis 657, 659 bis 661, 665 bis 672, 1529 bis 1532, 1728 bis 1733 und 3055 nicht berechnungsfähig. Diese Leistungen dürfen auch nicht anstelle der Leistung nach Nummer 435 berechnet werden.“ — Alongside the service under Number 435, for the duration of inpatient intensive-care monitoring and treatment, services under Abschnitte C III and M, and services under Numbers 1 to 56, 61 to 96, 200 to 211, 247, 250 to 268, 270 to 286a, 288 to 298, 401 to 424, 427 to 433, 483 to 485, 488 to 490, 500, 501, 505, 600 to 609, 634 to 648, 650 to 657, 659 to 661, 665 to 672, 1529 to 1532, 1728 to 1733 and 3055 are not billable. These services may also not be billed in place of the service under Number 435.

The multiplier for Number 61

Number 61 stands in Abschnitt B, so it falls within the ordinary fee range: from the single rate up to the 3.5-fold rate, with the 2.3-fold rate as the span within which, under § 5 Abs. 2 Satz 4 GOÄ, a fee is as a rule assessed.

For this number, § 5 Abs. 2 Satz 3 GOÄ is the sentence that limits any increase: criteria for assessment already accounted for in the service description are left out of consideration. The duration unit named in the text is part of the service text itself and already reflected in the point count — it does not by itself carry an increase.

Above the 2.3-fold rate, § 12 Abs. 3 GOÄ applies: written, tied to the particular service, comprehensible and traceable for the person liable to pay, and to be explained further on request.

What the record has to carry for Number 61

The record carries how many times the duration unit named in the text was commenced, and at what times the assistance took place. Without that entry, the point count can no longer be traced later, because the number is billed for each commenced unit.

It also belongs there who assisted whom, and at which service: the name of the physician the assistance was given to, and the service at which the assistance was provided. That is what distinguishes the assistance under Number 61 from a stand-alone medical service.

§ 630f BGB requires the essential measures and their results in immediate temporal connection with the treatment — for an assistance, the link to the other physician's service is part of those essential entries.

Frequently asked questions

What is the difference between Number 61 and Number 62?

Who bills it. The assisting physician bills Number 61 for their own time; the physician who calls in the assistant for an operative service bills Number 62. Where Number 62 is billed, the assisting physician cannot bill Number 61 alongside it for the same assistance.

Alongside which services may Number 61 be billed?

Alongside none. The provision states expressly: the service under Number 61 is not billable alongside other services — on the invoice it always stands on its own.

What does Number 61 cost?

130 points times the point value of 5,82873 Cent give a single standard fee of 7,58 €. The 2.3-fold rate is 17,43 €, the 3.5-fold rate 26,52 €.