Medicare Compliance & Reimbursement

The ink is just barely dry on CPT 2010, but the AMA  has already announced some items in the manual that require your attention.

The AMA released the list of CPT Errata, which should inspire coders to make the necessary changes to their new CPT manuals.

For example: CPT erred in its prolonged services chart, which listed 105 or more minutes of a prolonged service duration, followed by the words "(1 hr. 45 min. or more) 30 minutes." The phrase "30 minutes" should actually have been moved to the second column of the chart.

Also: CPT did not indicate that bronchoscopy codes 31622-31625 were revised to include the terms "include" and "when performed."

Editor's note: To read the errata, go online to: www.ama-assn.org/ama1/pub/upload/mm/362/2010-cpt-corrections.pdf.