Cardiology Coding Alert

In MSP cases, CMS suggests nonconsult code for both payers. Medicare may have scratched consultations off its list of payable services, but not all insurers followed suit. This leaves you in a quandary when your physician performs a consult and the primary insurer pays you for the service, but Medicare is the secondary payer. Here's How to Handle MSP Situations Early on, when the transition from using consult codes was first being discussed, one of the issues still up in the air for coders was what to do if Medicare is the secondary payer, says Sandy Fuller CPC, MCS-P, HIS supervisor and compliance officer for Cardiovascular Associates of East Texas. Solution: The "Medicare Secondary Payer (MSP) will not pay for consults," says Samantha Daily, billing specialist with a practice in Portland, Ore. Recently published MLN Matters article MM6740 indicates the following: "In MSP cases, physicians and others must bill an [...]