Is your cardiology billing department prepared for the 2009 coding changes? If not, it could cost your cardiology practice a great deal of money.
The 2009 cardiology coding and billing changes are the most significant that have been seen since the mid 1990s.
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.
Keep in mind the 2% reduction is an average number. Some practices will be well above this (especially heavy users of echo services) and others will actually see fee increases.
Some of the 2009 cardiology coding changes are:
- 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.
- Some of the device follow-up services will now have either 90 or 30 day global periods. The new codes are also broken into different device service types: either an interrogation evaluation or a programming evaluation. Your choice of code no longer depends on whether or not the device was reprogrammed.
- The current cardiology billing changes include CPTs for wearable cardiac telemetry devices like Cardionet. These new codes include global periods. There is no more billing for such services under the unlisted procedure codes.
- Echo services also have new CPTs. The new coded bundle echo services that used o have multiple codes into single codes. For instance, an echo with a Doppler and color flow has one code that bundles what used to be multiple codes. This situation also exists for bundling the stress test CPT and stress echo CPT under a single CPT.
As the examples above demonstrate, the magnitude of this year's cardiology billing changes are more significant that has been seen in recent years. Without proper education, cardiology billing training, software upgrades and billing resources cardiology practices may see marked reductions in collections and increases in AR.
Copyright 2009 by Carl Mays II
The 2009 cardiology coding and billing changes are the most significant that have been seen since the mid 1990s.
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.
Keep in mind the 2% reduction is an average number. Some practices will be well above this (especially heavy users of echo services) and others will actually see fee increases.
Some of the 2009 cardiology coding changes are:
- 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.
- Some of the device follow-up services will now have either 90 or 30 day global periods. The new codes are also broken into different device service types: either an interrogation evaluation or a programming evaluation. Your choice of code no longer depends on whether or not the device was reprogrammed.
- The current cardiology billing changes include CPTs for wearable cardiac telemetry devices like Cardionet. These new codes include global periods. There is no more billing for such services under the unlisted procedure codes.
- Echo services also have new CPTs. The new coded bundle echo services that used o have multiple codes into single codes. For instance, an echo with a Doppler and color flow has one code that bundles what used to be multiple codes. This situation also exists for bundling the stress test CPT and stress echo CPT under a single CPT.
As the examples above demonstrate, the magnitude of this year's cardiology billing changes are more significant that has been seen in recent years. Without proper education, cardiology billing training, software upgrades and billing resources cardiology practices may see marked reductions in collections and increases in AR.
Copyright 2009 by Carl Mays II
About the Author:
Insure you are ready for for these sweeping Cardiology Billing changes by visiting the Cardiology Billing Partners website (www.cardiologybilling.com). Stay informed of the latest cardiology billing and coding news at the Cardiology Billing Blog.
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