Medicare Compliance & Reimbursement

But the good news is that you'll soon be able to report operating microscope code 69990 with 61781-61783. You may just be getting used to the new codes in CPT 2011, but the latest edition of CCI, effective April 1, intends to make some code pairings impossible. The Correct Coding Initiative (CCI) released version 17.1 last week, revealing 11,831 new edit pairs and 346 terminations, said Frank D. Cohen, MPA, MBB, senior analyst with MIT Solutions, Inc., in a March 17 statement. New bundles: Among the new edits that will be instituted on April 1, you'll find that alcohol and/or substance abuse assessment codes G0396 and G0397 are bundled into most of the E/M codes (99201-99239). In most cases, you can use a modifier to separate these edits, assuming that the documentation confirms the separate and distinct nature of the services, and demonstrates medical necessity for both the visit and [...]