The January quarterly I/OCE update includes new modifiers, changes related to expanded packaging, and continued refinement of CMS' skin substitutes categories, but the biggest change for outpatient hospitals is the implementation of comprehensive APCs (C-APC).
CMS designates certain procedures as inpatient-only and identifies them using CPT codes. Hospitals normally only use CPT codes for outpatient coding, so this may be confusing for coders who use ICD-9-CM Volume 3 codes for inpatient procedures. Coders need to know which procedures are on the inpatient-only list to monitor compliance with this rule as they apply inpatient procedure codes.
The ICD-10 delay forced many healthcare organizations to rethink their ICD-10 staffing and implementation plans. Baptist Health System in Birmingham, Alabama, devised a plan to prepare for the one-year delay of ICD-10 by revising its budget and relying on new graduates to fill coder positions.
As new and more effective treatment options are created and evaluated, AMA must update the CPT® Manual to add and revise codes that allow providers to accurately report the work they performed.
The 2015 updates include more than 500 changes, including more than 250 new codes that impact nearly every section. In the 2015 CPT Manual, only the integumentary and respiratory system sections remain unchanged.
Since portions of the reproductive system use some of the same structures as the urinary system, including the urethra, codes for conditions involving both male and female reproductive systems appear in Chapter 14 of ICD-10-CM, Diseases of the Genitourinary System.
