The Protecting Access to Medicare Act of 2014 was recently signed into law, and what might seem on the surface like a straightforward attempt to prevent cuts to Medicare physician rates is actually more than meets the eye.
When outpatient hospitals and physicians switch to ICD-10-CM diagnosis codes October 1, they will still continue to use CPT® codes to report procedures. But some facilities are planning to use the new procedure code set, ICD-10-PCS, as well.
The ears--more formally, the auditory system--have their own chapter in ICD-10-CM, no longer relegated to the end of the neurology codes. Codes in Chapter 8, Diseases of the Ear and Mastoid Process (H60-H95), are located between the chapters for the optical system and the circulatory system.
Since January, providers have been struggling to reconcile conflicts between CMS' rules and regulations and those published by the CPT® Manual and other AMA publications.
