Anesthesia Coding Alert

New rule means simpler coding, but less pay. The rumor about consultation codes becoming obsolete for Medicare in 2010 became official when the CMS Final Rule was published on Oct. 30. Starting Jan. 1, 2010, CMS will no longer pay physicians for codes in the 99241-99245 (Office consultation for a new or established patient ...) or 99251-99255 (Inpatient consultation for a new or established patient ...) code series. Get Ready for Lower Pay -- Maybe "This will be budget neutral to CMS but not necessarily to your practice," says Betsy Nicoletti, MS, CPC, founder of Medical Practice Consulting in Springfield, Vt. Here's how she and other experts explain the bottom line changes: • CMS will increase the work relative value units (RVUs) for new and established patient visits by 6 percent. • CMS will increase the work RVUs for initial and subsequent hospital visits by 2 percent. • The increases are [...]