You have an agreement with a substitute physician to cover your practice as an independent contractor when you are away from the practice. This is known as a locum tenens arrangement. A reciprocal billing arrangement is typically an agreement among physicians that one will cover the other's practice when the regular physician is absent. Reciprocal billing arrangements are often informal, and Medicare does not require them to be in writing. No money changes hands, and the regular physician compensates the covering physician by reciprocating in the future under similar circumstances.
Physicians can have reciprocal billing arrangements with more than one physician.
Coverage periods are usually brief, although Medicare allows them to last up to 60 days if certain criteria are met. Examples of how physicians can use a reciprocal billing arrangement include physicians who occasionally cover for their colleagues during extended office hours and who cover for colleagues who are on-call on the weekend. Locum tenens arrangements are different. The substitute physician generally does not maintain a practice and travels from area to area as needed. The regular physician typically pays the substitute physician a fixed per-diem amount, with the substitute physician working as an independent contractor, not an employee.