Neurology & Pain Management Coding Alert

Question: My physician is going to begin electronic prescriptions following PQRI guidelines. What codes should I use to report this?

Florida Subscriber

Answer: Physicians who use an e-prescription system may earn a 2 percent bonus of their total Medicare allowed charges. Your physician does not have to register to be considered for the 2 percent bonus from eprescribing, but must report e-prescription activity on 50 percent of the Medicare patients he sees.

Reporting includes three G codes, which indicate one of three conditions:

- G8443 -- All prescriptions created during the encounter were generated using a qualified eprescribing system

- G8445 -- No prescriptions were generated during the encounter, provider does have access to a qualified e-prescribing system

- G8446 -- Provider does have access to a qualified e-prescribing system and some or all of the prescriptions generated during the encounter were printed or phoned in as required by state or federal law or regulations, patient request, or pharmacy system being unable to receive electronic transmission; or because they were for narcotics or other controlled substances.

Medicare offers the bonus because -e-prescribing can greatly reduce the number of medication errors that jeopardize the health and safety of Medicare patients and waste precious health care dollars treating conditions that never should have happened,- said CMS acting administrator Kerry Weems.

You can find more information online at www.cms.hhs.gov/ERxIncentive/.