Part B Insider (Multispecialty) Coding Alert

FOBT code will become more flexible in 2008

Heads up: CPT 2008 will eliminate retina surgery code 67038 (Victrectomy, with epiretinal membrane stripping.) Instead, you-ll have three new retina surgery codes to choose from.

Patients may have an epiretinal membrane on the surface of the macula because of a previous infection or the results of a past surgery, note experts. The membrane can cause a distortion in vision. Your doctor may also refer to this phenomenon as -macular pucker- or -cellophane maculopathy.-

You-ll also have a new code for complex retinal detachment procedures in 2008, sources close to the process tell The Insider. And you-ll have a new separate -J- code for reporting Lucentis, a popular drug for age-related macular degeneration.

Other new CPT 2008 changes coming down the pike:

- The descriptor for Fecal Occult Blood Test (FOBT) code 82272 will change. Currently, this code is only for a qualitative test involving a single specimen collected via digital exam. But starting in 2008, say sources, you-ll be able to use this code for one to three specimens, which could come from a digital exam or a card which the patient prepares.

- A new -unlisted antigen- code should make your immunology reports easier. A new basic metabolic panel code will make it easier to report a specific group of chemistry tests.

- You-ll have a new code to report a basic metabolic panel using ionized calcium (instead of regular calcium) in 2008. Currently, if your lab performs a basic metabolic panel but measures ionized calcium (82330) instead of calcium (82310), you have to list each separate component. But starting in January, you-ll report the service as 80047 (Basic metabolic panel [Calcium, ionized]).

Associations have recommended payment amounts as low as $11.83 for this code. But the Clinical Labor-atory Management Association has recommended paying around $30.51, according to Katharine Ayres, director of legislative and regulatory affairs for CLMA.

- You-ll also have new chemistry, microbiology and immunology codes to describe testing for antibiotic resistance, irritable bowel syndrome and adenovirus infection, among others.