Orthopedic Coding Alert

Due to a large number of errors, the implementation of the national Correct Coding Initiative (CCI) version 6.1 was delayed from April 1 to May 1, 2000. Users of any CCI edit products should make certain that they have a corrected copy of version 6.1 before its implementation on May 1, either in the form of an errata sheet, or in some cases, an updated book, says Laurie Castillo, MA, CPC, president of the American Association of Professional Coders Northern Virginia Chapter and owner of Physician Coding & Compliance Consulting in Manassas, Va.

The National Technical Information Service (NTIS) publishes the CCI edits, along with several other commercial resellers who purchase the raw data from NTIS. According to NTIS, all of their customers, including subscribers and resellers such as Medical Management Institute, Medicode and St. Anthonys, received an errata sheet soon after NTIS was made aware of the errors by the HealthCare Financing Administration (HCFA).

We received 37 pages of changes from NTIS, confirms Tony Mistretta of the Medical Management Institute, one of the licensed resellers of the CCI edits. We have committed to making all the changes to the book by hand and sending out corrected manuals to our subscribers, he says.

Those who purchased CCI edits from another source also should look for corrections to version 6.1 in time for the May 1 implementation. For NTIS customers, this has been sent out in the form of an appendix, which must be cross-referenced to the version 6.1 product. Other resellers should have received the errata sheet from NTIS and made arrangements to get that information to their customers.