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General Surgery Coding Alert

CCI 17.0:

43753, 43327 and More -- 3 Tips Help You Navigate CCI 17.0 Bundles

Published on Mon Jan 24, 2011

Include standard surgical services, radiology, in single surgical code.Just about the time you're done prepping to use the new CPT 2011 general surgery codes, the latest edition of Medicare's Correct Coding Initiative (CCI) is already making some code pairings impossible.CCI released version 17.0, effective Jan. 1, revealing 19,822 new active pairs and 9,778 code pair deletions, according to Frank D. Cohen, MPA, MBB, senior analyst with Frank Cohen Group, LLC.Most of the code pairings affect codes that debuted or exited in CPT 2011. But a new focus on bundling radiology with surgical procedures leads to a host of new edit pairs, too. Make sure you're familiar with all the general surgery edits you need to know with just three expert tips.Tip 1: Don't Unbundle Standard Surgical ServicesMedicare specifies that when you bill a surgical code, the procedure includes all intraoperative services that are usual and necessary parts of the surgery. [...]
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