Who is ordering physician and who is referring physician

Enter the name of the referring or ordering physician if the service or item was ordered or referred by a physician. All physicians who order services or refer Medicare beneficiaries must report this data. When a claim involves multiple referring and/or ordering physicians, a separate Form CMS-1500 shall be used for each ordering/referring physician.

The term "physician" when used within the meaning of §1861(r) of the Act and used in connection with performing any function or action refers to:

1. A doctor of medicine or osteopathy legally authorized to practice medicine and surgery by the State in which he/she performs such function or action;

2. A doctor of dental surgery or dental medicine who is legally authorized to practice dentistry by the State in which he/she performs such functions and who is acting within the scope of his/her license when performing such functions;

3. A doctor of podiatric medicine for purposes of §§(k), (m), (p)(1), and (s) and §§1814(a), 1832(a)(2)(F)(ii), and 1835of the Act, but only with respect to functions which he/she is legally authorized to perform as such by the State in which he/she performs them;

4. A doctor of optometry, but only with respect to the provision of items or services described in §1861(s) of the Act which he/she is legally authorized to perform as a doctor of optometry by the State in which he/she performs them; or

5. A chiropractor who is licensed as such by a State (or in a State which does not license chiropractors as such), and is legally authorized to perform the services of a chiropractor in the jurisdiction in which he/she performs such services, and who meets uniform minimum standards specified by the Secretary, but only for purposes of §§1861(s)(1) and 1861(s)(2)(A) of the Act, and only with respect to treatment by means of manual manipulation of the spine (to correct a subluxation). For the purposes of §1862(a)(4) of the Act and subject to the limitations and conditions provided above, chiropractor includes a doctor of one of the arts specified in the statute and legally authorized to practice such art in the country in which the inpatient hospital services (referred to in §1862(a)(4) of the Act) are furnished.

Referring physician - is a physician who requests an item or service for the beneficiary for which payment may be made under the Medicare program.

Ordering physician - is a physician or, when appropriate, a non-physician practitioner who orders non-physician services for the patient. See Pub 100-02, Medicare Benefit Policy Manual, chapter 15 for non-physician practitioner rules. Examples of services that might be ordered include diagnostic laboratory tests, clinical laboratory tests, pharmaceutical services, durable medical equipment, and services incident to that physician’s or non-physician practitioner’s service.