Coding Resource Center
March 2020
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) issued the Related Change Request (CR) Number 11628 which contains the quarterly update to the National Correct Coding Initiative (NCCI) Procedure-to-Procedure (PTP) Edits. The latest package of the NCCI PTP edits is Version 26.1 and will be implemented on April 1, 2020. CMS developed the NCCI to […]
The Office of Inspector General (OIG) has published recently added work plan items to include Medicare Part B payments to physicians for co-surgery procedures. According to CPT®, “When 2 surgeons work together as primary surgeons performing distinct part(s) of a procedure, each surgeon should report his/her distinct operative work by adding modifier 62 to the […]
February 2020
February 6, 2020 – A survey conducted by the American Medical Association (AMA) to benchmark how various healthcare technologies are being used reveals increased integration into clinical practice by physicians. The biggest growth seen by the AMA were in the areas of telehealth, virtual visits and remote monitoring. Physicians rated improved efficiency and increased safety […]
February 6, 2020 – Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) issued the MLN Connects® Newsletter in which it identifies the 2020 for the Medicare Promoting Interoperability Program. This program (formerly known as the Medicare and Medicaid Electronic Health Records Incentive Program) provides incentive payments to eligible hospitals as they demonstrate meaningful use of certified […]
January 2020
January 17, 2020 – Novitas Solutions, Inc. has revised the Local Coverage Article (A53124) to reflect the 2020 CPT® changes effective on or after January 1, 2020 dates of service. Of interest is the addition of codes 34717 and 34718 to describe placement of the prosthesis: “CPT code 34717 and 34718 describe endovascular repair of […]
January 2020
January 6, 2020 – An online checklist and associated resources are now available through the American Medical Association (AMA) to assist physician practices in preparation for the upcoming changes to Evaluation and Management (E/M) services in 2021, including telemedicine. The AMA has been working with CMS to simplify E/M requirements with the goal to make […]
January 2020
January 2, 2020 – The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) re-issued the MLN Matters® Article SE18006 “to update certain language to show the use of MBI is fully implemented.” The MBI cards are to be used for all Medicare transactions and will identify beneficiaries without the use of social security numbers (SSNs). MBI […]
December 2019
December 23, 2019 – According the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) Weekly Digest Bulletin, Medicare providers are required to submit claims for beneficiaries using Medicare Beneficiary Identifier (MBI) cards starting January 1, 2020. The MBI cards will identify beneficiaries without the use of social security numbers (SSNs), which offers better identity protection. This […]
December 2019
December 10, 2019 – The United States Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) is an independent, volunteer panel of national experts in disease prevention and evidence-based medicine. This group works to improve the health of all Americans by making evidence-based recommendations about clinical preventive services. USPSTF published a final recommendation statement on screening for abdominal aortic […]
December 2019
The major code changes for 2020 are related to “Endovascular Repair of Abdominal Aorta and/or Iliac Arteries” section of CPT®: Deletion of Category III code 0254T Endovascular repair of iliac artery bifurcation (eg, aneurysm, pseudoaneurysm, arteriovenous malformation, trauma, dissection) using bifurcated endograft from the common iliac artery into both the external and internal iliac artery, […]
