Part B Insider (Multispecialty) Coding Alert
E/M and Inpatient Visits, Consults Hit Hard by 2004 RVU Changes
Among the dozens of CPT Codes targeted for cutbacks in the 2004 fee schedule are 46 codes that begin with 99, according to a chart in the new final regulation.
The 4.5 percent cut, combined with some adjustments to RVUs, has resulted in a sledgehammer hit to evaluation and management codes, inpatient visit codes, and consult codes, among others. Hardest hit will be high-level E/M codes for new patients (99205) and existing patients (99215), which will drop 4 percent each.
Nursing facility (99301-99303) and home visits (99348 and 99350) will drop 5 percent each.
Physicians will actually see an increase in the first hour of critical care (99291) in the inpatient setting, from $210.05 to $229.07. But the next half-hour of critical care (99292) will drop from $107.78 to $101.19 to compensate.
Treatment of retinal lesion (67210) will drop from $604.59 to $544.58. Also, upper GI endoscopy (43239) will drop from $337.69 to $305.31, and lesion-removal colonoscopy (45385) will drop from $545.53 to $471.85. Destruction of a benign or premalignant lesion (17000) will drop from $61.43 to $57.27.
Part B Insider (Multispecialty) Coding Alert
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