With some major changes in look and form-but generally adhering to existing guidelines-coding for neoplasms serves as a microcosm of the changes providers will face when the transition to ICD-10-CM occurs October 1, 2014.
Our experts answer questions about billing vasectomy and sperm analysis, coding for ED visit when the patient is admitted for surgery, billing glucose reading before a PET scan, documentation required for the functional limitation codes, and appropriate reporting of observation.
The U.S. healthcare system is and will continue to be dependent on clinical codes and is thus equally dependent on accurate and complete clinical documentation.
CMS added modifier -AO (provider declined alt payment method) and new HCPCS codes to the I/OCE as part of the October 2013 quarterly update found in Transmittal 2763.
Despite its apparently straightforward definition in the CPT® Manual, modifier -59 (distinct procedural service) can be deceptively difficult to append properly.
The 2014 OPPS proposed rule is shorter than normal at 718 pages, but the proposed changes are significant and probably the most sweeping changes since the inception of OPPS, says Jugna Shah, MPH, president and founder of Nimitt Consulting.
