CPT 2010 Update:
Move Your Temp Urethral Stent Insertion Search to Category I
Published on Fri Oct 16, 2009
A new code means you may actually get paid -- unless CCI Edits steps in. The new year should ring in change in a user-friendly system thanks to a new payment-catching code for the Spanner procedure. Make sure you incorporate the urethral stent insertion and urogynecology changes come January. Here's what you need to know. Scrap Category III Code For Payment-Friendly Code When your urologist inserts a temporary urethral stent, you now have a permanent code that payers should reimburse. New code 53855 (Insertion of a temporary prostatic urethral stent, including urethral measurement) replaces the Category III code 0084T with the same descriptor. Category III code 0084T offered no guarantee of reimbursement. Use 53855 for the Spanner procedure. "53855 is a code for a relatively new procedure/device," says Paul Arnold, MD, of Bay Urology in Safety Harbor, Fla. Payers did not always recognize the Category III code. "Now, there is a [...]
