If your are not aware and prepared for the 2009 cardiology billing and coding changes you may be leaving a lot of money uncollected.
Not since the mid 90's has cardiology seen such significant coding and billing changes as have been put in place in 2009.
Across the board the average Medicare fee increased just 1.1 percent. Cardiology in general fared worse than average, experiencing an average decrease of 2% due primarily to decreases in payments for in-office imaging.
Cardiologist that have a higher than average use of imaging services will see decreases in their Medicare fees far in excess of 2%, while other cardiologists may be able to achieve an increase in Medicare fees.
Here are examples of some of the upcoming changes:
- All of the codes previously used to submit charges for implanted device follow-up have been deleted and replaced with new codes. Not only have the old codes been replaced, but they have been replaced with a more updated code set that provides codes for checks of devices with leads in 3 chambers, codes specific to a remote (internet) device check, codes for following ICM devices, codes for periprocedural checks, etc.
- 30 and 90 day global periods are now in place for follow-up for some devices. Also, the new codes are specific to either an interrogation evaluation or a programming evaluation. The codes are no longer dependent on whether reprogramming occurred.
- 2009 also brings codes specific to a wearable cardiac telemetry device such as a Cardionet type service. This is the end to billing with the unlisted procedure code; but there is a catch here too. These codes also have global days.
- The echo services are also seeing new codes. When you do an echo with a Doppler and color flow you'll have a new code to submit that bundles these services into one code. The same is true for a new stress echo code that bundles the stress test code and stress echo into one code.
These changes are far greater than the normally "tweaking" that occurs at the beginning of each year. If you cardiology billing department is not fully aware of the changes and how to respond to these changes it could have a significant negative impact on your practice. Be sure to invest in the proper training, coding resources and billing system upgrades to be prepared for 2009 cardiology billing.
Copyright 2009 by Carl Mays II
Not since the mid 90's has cardiology seen such significant coding and billing changes as have been put in place in 2009.
Across the board the average Medicare fee increased just 1.1 percent. Cardiology in general fared worse than average, experiencing an average decrease of 2% due primarily to decreases in payments for in-office imaging.
Cardiologist that have a higher than average use of imaging services will see decreases in their Medicare fees far in excess of 2%, while other cardiologists may be able to achieve an increase in Medicare fees.
Here are examples of some of the upcoming changes:
- All of the codes previously used to submit charges for implanted device follow-up have been deleted and replaced with new codes. Not only have the old codes been replaced, but they have been replaced with a more updated code set that provides codes for checks of devices with leads in 3 chambers, codes specific to a remote (internet) device check, codes for following ICM devices, codes for periprocedural checks, etc.
- 30 and 90 day global periods are now in place for follow-up for some devices. Also, the new codes are specific to either an interrogation evaluation or a programming evaluation. The codes are no longer dependent on whether reprogramming occurred.
- 2009 also brings codes specific to a wearable cardiac telemetry device such as a Cardionet type service. This is the end to billing with the unlisted procedure code; but there is a catch here too. These codes also have global days.
- The echo services are also seeing new codes. When you do an echo with a Doppler and color flow you'll have a new code to submit that bundles these services into one code. The same is true for a new stress echo code that bundles the stress test code and stress echo into one code.
These changes are far greater than the normally "tweaking" that occurs at the beginning of each year. If you cardiology billing department is not fully aware of the changes and how to respond to these changes it could have a significant negative impact on your practice. Be sure to invest in the proper training, coding resources and billing system upgrades to be prepared for 2009 cardiology billing.
Copyright 2009 by Carl Mays II
About the Author:
Insure you are prepared for these sweeping Cardiology Billing changes by visiting the Cardiology Billing Partners website (www.cardiologybilling.com). Stay informed of the most recent cardiology billing and coding news by visiting the Cardiology Billing Blog.
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