Medicare Compliance & Reimbursement

Plus: Hospices interested in participating in the Medicare program must heed new rules When the AMA releases CPT 2009 later this year, you'll find a total of 519 new, revised and deleted codes within the manual's pages. CPT's medicine section will be completely revamped, with 67 new codes, 37 code deletions, and 20 revisions. Following close behind will be the surgery section, with 36 new codes. Logging the fewest changes this year will be the anesthesia section, with just two new codes, two revisions, and no deletions. Rounding out the new codes will be E/M (17 new codes, 15 deletions), radiology (four new codes, six deletions), and path/lab (seven new codes, one deletion). The AMA hasn't announced which codes will be added, revised and deleted. In Other News ... • Hospices that want to participate in the Medicare program will face new standards, according to a report to be published in the June 5 Federal Register. CMS released the final rule titled "Hospice Conditions of Participation" on May 27. Hospices must meet the conditions included in the final rule to be eligible for Medicare participation. You can read the entire final rule on the Federal Register Web site at http://federalregister.gov/OFRUpload/OFRData/08-1305_PI.pdf.. • If the PQRI regs have your head spinning, help is on the way. CMS released its 2008 PQRI Fact Sheet earlier this week, offering tips on how to determine which groups your services fall into, and when you can submit particular codes to the program. Keep in mind: The document applies only to PQRI claims for 2008. Rules for the 2009 PQRI program will be established in the future, the fact sheet says. You can read the document online at http://www.cms.hhs.gov/PQRI/Downloads/2008PQRIFactSheetMay.pdf. • Research presented at the annual meeting of the Pediatric Academic Societies shows that healthcare providers could reach an additional 10.7 million children by starting flu vaccinations in August when children are in the office for school physicals, says a press release from MedImmune, a medicine company based in Maryland. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices voted in February to expand the flu vaccination recommendations to include all children 6 months through 18 years of age, thus adding about 30 million children to the recommended pediatric population to be vaccinated annually against influenza.