CMS Releases Updated Frequently-Asked Questions For ICD-10 Acknowledgement & End-To-End Testing

Summary The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) recently updated frequently-asked questions and answers for health care providers and billing houses participating in testing programs for the upcoming transition to the International Classification of Diseases, 10th Edition (ICD-10). Health care providers and billing agencies who participate in acknowledgement testing and who are selected to…

2015 HCPCS Local Coverage Determination Changes

First Coast Service Options Inc. has revised local coverage determinations (LCDs) impacted by the 2015 Healthcare Common Procedure Coding System (HCPCS) annual update. Procedure codes have been added, revised, replaced and deleted accordingly: LCD Title Changes Allergy Testing Descriptor change for CPT® code 84600 Deleted HCPCS codes G0461 and G0462 Added CPT® codes 88341, 88342,…

Emergency Update To The Medicare Physician Fee Schedule Database

Effective date January 1, 2015Implementation date: January 5, 2015 SummaryThe Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) recently released an emergency update to Medicare physician fee schedule database payment files. With the emergency release, CMS amended those payment files, including an updated conversion factor of $35.7547 for services furnished between January 1, 2015, and March…

CPT G0105 & CPT G0121 Update

Anesthesia Furnished in Conjunction with Colonoscopy  Section 4104 of the Affordable Care Act defined the term “preventive services” to include “colorectal cancer screening tests” and as a result it waives any coinsurance that would otherwise apply under Section 1833(a)(1) of the Act for screening colonoscopies. In addition, the Affordable Care Act amended Section 1833(b)(1) of…

2012 Anesthesia Conversion Factors For The U.S. Virgin Islands

The revised conversion factors for use in calculating payment for anesthesia services (procedure codes 00100 through 01999) for service dates January 1 through February 29, 2012, are as follows: Participating Physician      Nonparticipating Physician 21.44                                    20.37 The conversion factors for non-medically directed certified registered nurse anesthetists (CRNAs) are identical to the participating physician anesthesia conversion factors…

New Anesthesia Conversion Factor For 2012

The revised conversion factors for use in calculating payment for anesthesia services (procedure codes 00100 through 01999) for service dates January 1 through February 29, 2012, are as follows: Locality    Participating Physician       Nonparticipating Physician 03             23.41                               22.24 04             24.97                               23.72 99 (01 & 02)  22.35                         21.23 The conversion factors for non-medically directed certified registered nurse…

Medical and Surgical Services Rendered in Addition to Anesthesia Procedures

ANESTHESIA SERVICES Medical and Surgical Services Rendered in Addition to Anesthesia Procedures Payment may be made under the fee schedule for specific medical and surgical services by theanesthesiologist as long as these services are reasonable and medically necessary or providedother rebundling provisions do not preclude separate payment. These services may be renderedin conjunction with the…