There’s a slew of new health behavior assessment codes for 2020 and, good news, they’re on Medicare’s list of services you can provide via telehealth during the public health emergency (PHE) for COVID-19. Check out this rundown of the new codes and who should be using them. Assessment Codes Include Individual, Group The health […]
Coders should note that the temporary guidelines will expire September 30. CMS released the 2021 ICD-10-CM Official Guidelines for Coding and Reporting on July 8, several weeks earlier than usual. The coding guidelines, which take effect October 1, include new instructions for reporting manifestations of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19), among other changes. The guidelines include a new […]
One billion dollars is a big number, but more astounding to me, as it pertains to a recent finding by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Office of Inspector General (OIG), was that hospitals were found to have incorrectly documented and/or coded severe malnutrition 86.5 percent of the time (173/200)! That’s […]
The FY21 ICD-10-CM codes were released by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on July 1, 2020. The new and updated diagnosis codes are another part of the preparation for FY21 which begins on October 1, 2020. The final codes were very similar to the diagnosis codes that were released earlier this year. […]
Heading into 2020, adoption of telehealth services was already on the rise. Then the health crisis hit. Now it appears that COVID-19 has not only cemented telehealth’s place in the healthcare landscape but done so in a very big way. McKinsey & Co. is projecting that virtual visits could potentially account for $250 billion, or 20%, of […]
There are a slew of changes and only a few months before you will need to start using the new codes. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) released on July 1 the ICD-10-CM code descriptions, tables and index, and addendum for fiscal year 2021. There are 490 additions, 58 deletions, and 47 revisions — […]
Just when you thought you had all the COVID-19 coding for laboratory testing figured out — hold the phone — there are three new CPT® codes. These newest codes are effective June 25, 2020. CPT® Code Long Descriptor 0223U Infectious disease (bacterial or viral respiratory tract infection), pathogen-specific nucleic acid (DNA or RNA), 22 targets […]
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has provided some guidance within the “Medicare and Medicaid Programs Policy and Regulatory Revisions in Response to the COVID-19 Public Health Emergency” interim final rule (IFR), allowing for remote patient monitoring, or RPM. This type of patient care is very helpful for ongoing treatment during the COVID-19 […]
There are numerous coding options when it comes to reporting telehealth visits and others that are not the traditional face-to-face office visit. There are numerous options when it comes to reporting visits that are not the traditional face-to-face office visit. This varies somewhat by payer, of course. Medicare has temporarily relaxed some of the geographic […]
The American Medical Association (AMA) has released an update to the Current Procedural Terminology (CPT), introducing a new code for reporting antigen testing of patients suspected to be infected with COVID-19. Approved on June 25 during a meeting of the CPT Editorial Panel, this update signifies a milestone in expediting the review of proposed changes […]