Pathology/Lab Coding Alert

Question: Could you please explain Medicare's new rules for place of service and date of service as they affect billing for the pathologist's work on diagnostic tests?

Tennessee Subscriber

Answer: Medicare issued new date of service (DOS) rules, to be effective July 1 and new place of Pathology/Lab Coding Alert/2010, Vol. 11, No. 3 To subscribe, call (800) 508-2582 Page 23 service (POS) rules, effective Jan. 4 in change request (CR) 6375.

Don't sweat it: You, like many others, have been confused and concerned about these new rules -- but have no fear. Medicare rescinded CR 6375 and the associated MLN Matters article MM6375 (www.cms.hhs.gov/MLNMattersArticles/downloads/MM6375.pdf) on Feb. 5.

CMS provides no projected date for a revision. That means you can either avoid making any changes, if you haven't already done so, or immediately return to your prior DOS and POS practices that you had in place before trying to implement CR 6375.