Coding Resource Center
October 2020
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid (CMS) announced amended terms for payments issued under the Accelerated and Advance Payment (AAP) Program. This Medicare loan program allowed CMS to make advance payments to providers to help alleviate financial burden due to cash flow issues during the COVID-19 Public Health Emergency (PHE). On March 28, 2020, CMS […]
The Critical Limb Ischemia (CLI) Global Society coalition has received approval from the Center for Disease Control (CDC) to recognize “critical limb ischemia” (CLI) and “chronic limb-threatening ischemia” (CLTI) in the International Classification of Diseases, Tenth Revision, Clinical Modification (ICD-10-CM), effective October 1, 2020. In the Alphabetic Index, CLI and CLTI are now listed under […]
Based on the CY 2019 Hospital Outpatient Final Rule (OPPS), the Hospital Price Transparency Policy will go into effect on January 1, 2021. This policy requires each operating hospital in the United States is to publish their pricing information for items and services they provide online in two ways. Comprehensive machine-readable file with all items […]
On October 2, 2021, Alex M. Azar II, Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced the renewal of the public health emergency (PHE) declared due to the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19). The PHE was originally declared on January 31, 2020; renewed on April 21, 2020 and then on July 25, 2020. These extensions were […]
September 2020
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid (CMS) announced it has finalized the End Stage Renal Disease (ERSD) Treatment Choices (ETC) Model to improve or maintain the quality of care for beneficiaries with chronic kidney disease (CKD). This model will affect approximately 30 percent of kidney care providers with an estimated savings of $23 million over […]
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) proposed a new Medicare coverage pathway, the Medicare Coverage of Innovative Technology (MCIT), for FDA-designated breakthrough devices. This pathway would offer beneficiaries access to new and innovative devices and technologies to help improve their health outcomes, by providing national Medicare coverage on the same day as the […]
On September 8, 2020, the American Medical Association (AMA) published an update to the CPT® code set that includes two new codes for reporting medical services during the COVID-19 PHE. This update to the code set was approved by the CPT® Editorial Panel to “meet the needs of the health care industry as medical advancements […]
On September 1, 2020, the American Medical Association (AMA) released the 2021 Current Procedural Terminology (CPT®) code set after approval from the CPT® Editorial Panel. There are 329 editorial changes to CPT® including: 206 new codes 69 revised code descriptors 54 deleted codes The majority of new codes involve new technology services described in Category […]
August 2020
Last month it was announced that the Advance Beneficiary Notice of Noncoverage (ABN) form and instructions had been approved by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for renewal. The announcement originally instructed the mandatory start date for utilizing the renewed form would be August 31, 2020. However, due to COVID-19 concerns, CMS has expanded […]
The Office of Inspector General (OIG) has a dedicated COVID-19 webpage portal which provides extensive information and resources regarding all aspects of the COVID pandemic. Among other things, the portal contains policies and guidance, toolkits, the most up-to-date news, as well as quick links to additional resources from reputable sites such as the Centers for Disease Control […]
