Monday, November 2nd, 2009
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved, Oct. 19, the use of the seasonal influenza vaccine Fluarix for children ages 3 to 17 years. This vaccine, which contains inactivated (killed) influenza A and B viruses, was previously approved for use in adults, ages 18 years and older.
Monday, November 2nd, 2009
If you’re confused about carrier rules for coding H1N1 vaccines, you’re not alone. Choosing H1N1 codes in regard to Medicare and private insurance guidelines, and when to use a modifier can leave you dumbfounded. To answer your H1N1 questions, here’s the low-down on Medicare policies vs. private insurer policies.
Monday, November 2nd, 2009
Cardiac computed tomography (CCT) professionals will see major changes in coding next year. CPT® 2010 adds four new Category I codes to report CCT and cardiac computed tomography angiography (CCTA) services and deletes four Category III codes.
In a statement posted on its Web site prior to the Oct. 30 release of the 2010 Outpatient Prospective Payment System (OPPS) final rule, the Society of Cardiovascular Computed Tomography (SCCT) said it did not foresee significant changes in payment for CCT/CCTA. They were singing another tune Nov. 2.
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has determined that its blanket of non-coverage for blood flow measurement using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) technology contradicts its policies and magnetic resonance angiography (MRA). CMS has eliminated that from the national coverage determination (NCD), effective Sept. 28, and is allowing payers to choose to cover the services. This will impact four codes in January’s outpatient code editor (OCE).
Monday, November 2nd, 2009
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) updated, Oct. 14, its Medicare Fee-for-Service (FFS) Q&As to address H1N1-related questions circling among the health care industry. Read more »
Monday, November 2nd, 2009
The Fistula First Breakthrough Initiative (FFBI) has released a strategic plan for achieving the Center for Medicare & Medicaid Services’ (CMS) goal that two-thirds (66 percent) of prevalent hemodialysis patients will use an arteriovenous (AV) fistula as their primary method of vascular access. Read more »
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved the first fully-robotic surgery device, the da Vinci® surgical system, in early 2000. In recent years, robotic surgery—technically called laparoscopic robotic-assisted surgery—has revolutionized minimally invasive surgery (MIS).
Robotic-assistance has been adopted by several surgical specialties for complex procedures, such as mitral valve repair, Roux-en-Y, prostectomy, hysterectomy, sacral colpopexies, coronary anastomosis, nephrectomy, and others.
Wednesday, October 21st, 2009
The CPT® 2010 code book includes some changes that will take many coders by surprise. Here’s a synopsis:
Consult Codes. While the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) grapples with the idea of deleting these codes, the American Medical Association (AMA) extends their life into 2010 — changing only the language in the outpatient and inpatient coding instructions. For 2010, a consulting physician may assume responsibility for the management of all or a portion of the patient care after completing the consultation. What remains from 2009 are guidelines that say the consult must be requested by another provider, and that a report is returned to the requesting provider with the opinion of the consulting physician.
Resequencing of Codes. For 2010, coders will find codes appearing out of sequence, and also parent codes linked to indented codes that have smaller numbers (i.e., 21554 Excision, tumor, soft tissue of neck or anterior thorax, subfascial (eg, intramuscular); 5 cm or greater is a new indented code under 21556 Excision, tumor, soft tissue of neck or anterior thorax, subfascial (eg, intramuscular); less than 5 cm). Place-holding codes in sequential order send the reader to the new location for codes listed out of sequence, and a new icon — a pound sign (#) — identifies codes that are out of sequence.
Fluoroscopy. More codes are seeing the addition of the phrase “with or without fluoroscopy,” further bundling this practice into the main procedure.
Watch EdgeBlast and the Coding Edge for more details.
Monday, October 19th, 2009
AAPC member Mary LeGrand, RN, MA, CPC, CCS-P, provides orthopaedic specialists advice on injection coding in AAOS — the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons’ online newsletter.
The American Academy of Dermatology (AAD) provides advice to avoid filing duplicate claims, which it says occurs in 6 percent of Medicare claim reporting. The common sense document includes the following tips, which help save Medicare and your practice money.
