Are you prepared for 2009 Cardiology Billing changes?
Cardiology billing departments and practices that are not properly implementing the 2009 cardiology billing and coding changes will pay for it with lower collections and higher days in AR.
2009 brings some of the most significant coding changes cardiology has seen in over 15 years.
Across the board the average Medicare fee increased just 1.1 percent. Cardiology in general fared worse than average, experiencing an average decrease of 2% due primarily to decreases in payments for in-office imaging.
Keep in mind the 2% reduction is an average number. Some practices will be well above this (especially heavy users of echo services) and others will actually see fee increases.
Some of the 2009 cardiology coding changes are:
- Significant changes in the codes used for follow-up on implanted devices (all of the old codes have been replaced). The updated codes include codes for follow-up on devices with leads in 3 chambers, codes for checking ICM devices, codes for periprocedural checks, and codes for remote device follow-up and monitoring.
- 30 and 90 day global periods are now in place for follow-up for some devices. Also, the new codes are specific to either an interrogation evaluation or a programming evaluation. The codes are no longer dependent on whether reprogramming occurred.
- 2009 also brings codes specific to a wearable cardiac telemetry device such as a Cardionet type service. This is the end to billing with the unlisted procedure code; but there is a catch here too. These codes also have global days.
- The echo services are also seeing new codes. When you do an echo with a Doppler and color flow you’ll have a new code to submit that bundles these services into one code. The same is true for a new stress echo code that bundles the stress test code and stress echo into one code.
These changes are far greater than the normally “tweaking” that occurs at the beginning of each year. If you cardiology billing department is not fully aware of the changes and how to respond to these changes it could have a significant negative impact on your practice. Be sure to invest in the proper training, coding resources and billing system upgrades to be prepared for 2009 cardiology billing.
Make sure you are ready for for these significant Cardiology Billing changes by visiting the Cardiology Billing Partners website. Stay on top of the most recent cardiology billing and coding news by visiting the Cardiology Billing Blog.
This post was submitted by Carl Mays II.