Practice Management Alert

Question: Our practice is very confused about a recent LCD from NGS about how they want us to file claims for lesion excisions when the surgeon doesn't know the exact nature (benign or malignant) prior to the excision and pathology report. I've heard the payer is going to retract the LCD. Is that true? Kentucky Subscriber Answer: You are correct on both parts. Practices have been asking questions about the recent local coverage determination (LCD) from National Government Services (NGS) on lesion excision coding. But don't fret: NGS plans to rescind the LCD advice about lesion excisions. The portion of the NGS LCD that has led to controversy is in the general information section toward the bottom of the LCD. That section reads: "While it is recognized that some diagnoses resulting from an excision will at times be malignant, the diagnosis at the time the procedure was performed would most [...]