Pay per patient for Skilled Nursing Psych NP Consults

[PMHNP718]

Hi all nurses community! This is my first post.

I am a psychiatric nurse practitioner who specializes in geriatric mental health. I was recently hired by a psychiatrist to do skilled nursing psychiatric consultations. I am a 1099 independent contractor who does not get benefits or health insurance. I am writing to see if I am getting fair pay.

I get $45 for a 99306 new patient evaluation and $30 for a 99309 follow up. The 2011 average medicare reimbursements to the Psychiatrist are as follows:

99306 $157

99309 $85

I work in the New York City area so I am fairly certain the reimbursements are higher then that. Do you think I am getting a fair cut? It looks like the psychiatrist is taking more then half of the reimbursement pay for each visit....I am thinking I should renegotiate for ten dollars more per patient. What do you guys think?

I thank you in advance for all your input and guidance!

[harmonizer]

I would ask for more. I don't live in New York and one of the jobs offered me more than that amount for per patient rate (not in skilled nursing setting). I accepted it and I found out later that the rate is still unfair. Please do you make the same mistake like I did. I accepted that job out of desperation. To be fair, negotiate for % rate of the pay eg. %70/30. This will force them to tell you the reimbursement rate (if they do not lie).

Remember you are paying 7.65% more tax on 1099 with no health insurance and other perks. You pay should be significantly more.

[PMHNP718]

Thanks!

[resilientnurse]

I don't know much about this area. However, I did interview for a similar position recently and the company was offering $45 per hour. With that said, I suppose that these are fairly standard rates.