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Billing code

K731A — Consulting Physician (Telephone Consultation)

Phone consult, consultant

Bill K731 when you give a referring physician or nurse practitioner your opinion by phone about their patient, with 10+ minutes' discussion.

Watch for: Put the referring provider's number on the claim, or it's rejected; one K731 or K735 per patient per day.

Code

K731A

Description

Consulting Physician (Telephone Consultation)

FHO+ basket

Covered by the FHO+ base rate payment for enrolled patients, and shadow billed at 30% (50% for Schedule 2B procedures).

Effective date

Apr 1, 2026

Termination date

No end date

Explanation

Updated October 26, 2026

Telephone consultation in which the consultant physician gives an opinion to a referring physician or nurse practitioner who keeps caring for the patient.

What it covers

Physician to physician telephone consultation is when a referring physician or nurse practitioner asks, by phone, for the opinion of a physician competent to advise because of the complexity, seriousness or obscurity of the case. K731 pays the consultant (A42).

It is payable only if the consultant gives an opinion and/or recommendations, after reviewing the relevant data sent by the referrer. The usual consultation rules on GP16 don't apply (A42).

Billing rules

• At least 10 minutes of patient-related discussion; time can be cumulative over the same day with the same physicians for the same patient (A43, A44).
• Both physicians must be physically in Ontario at the time (A43).
• Maximum one K731 or K735 per patient per day (A43).
• Not payable when the call is to arrange a transfer of care, or in whole or part to arrange a consultation, assessment, visit, K time-based service, procedure or test; when it is mainly to discuss test results; or when the consultant sees the patient that day or the next (A43).
• Not payable if you are paid other than fee-for-service for it, such as salary, APP or AFP (A43, A44).
• Chart the patient's name and health number, start and stop times, both physicians' names, the reason and your opinion, and put the referrer's provider number on the claim (A44).
• Physicians on duty in an ED or hospital urgent care clinic use K735 instead (A42, A43).
• FHO: a Schedule 2 core code (Agreement p.79).

Common rejections

• ARF: 'Missing physician referring number': K731 is only payable with the referring provider's number on the claim (A44).

Related codes: K730, K734, K735, K739, K733, K700

Source: Schedule of Benefits (July 1, 2026), Consultations and Visits, Family Practice & Practice in General (00), page A42; rules A43–A44.

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