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Orthopedic Coding Alert

Watch for NCD Works in Progress That Affect Your Services

Published on Fri Apr 25, 2008

If your practice wants coverage, here's how to speak up CMS alerts providers when it's considering a coverage policy change, so don't let your practice sit idly by. Case in point: CMS opened a National Coverage Analysis (NCA) to determine if thermal intradiscal therapy is reasonable and necessary for Medicare coverage. What people are saying: Thermal intradiscal therapy, such as intradiscal electrothermal annuloplasty (IDET), is a minimally invasive treatment for patients with low back pain believed to originate in the disc. That makes it an important intermediary step between more conservative treatment and open procedures, according to Gene Levinstein, MD, with Orthopaedic Associates of Bethlehem and Easton in his public comments to CMS. The public comment period was from Jan. 15 to Feb. 14, and CMS expects to post a decision memo by July 15 (although the final analysis is due in October). You can learn more about offering public comments at http://www.cms.hhs.gov/InfoExchange/02_publiccomments.asp
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