Cardiology Coding: Cci 16.0 Bundles Catheter Ablations With Ep

By Author: Julia Rose
Total Articles: 89
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The latest Correct Coding Initiative (CCI) edits 16.0 that went into effect last month bundles catheter ablations with electrophysiology (EP) studies. But the good news is that CMS has decided to delete the edits retroactively because their addition was a mistake. Although the snag is that the deletion won't happen until April 1.


For something like this, it is easy enough to stop the billing. For instance, sending an e-mail to all of your practice's coders to hold affected claims may be sufficient. In comparison, if office visits were affected by flawed edits, you might have to pull in the IT team or run daily queries to catch the claims. The real trouble with the CCI error could be how it impacts your quarterly reimbursement.


Having to hold EO claims could be painful when you add it to the other recent Medicare fee cuts. There are however alternatives to it. If you submit now, you may resubmit claims for denied services after the retroactive deletion goes into effect.


Most CCI edits bundle the less expensive procedure into the more expensive procedure. If you hold the ...
... claims for three months, you have $0 in the bank. However if you submit the claims, and Medicare denies ‘one or two of the less expensive procedures, you will have the majority of the earned revenue in the bank. You'll also have a list of denied sub-component codes that you must rebill after the CCI does away the edits.


April 1, the slated deletion date, is roughly two months away, but you should certainly keep yourself up to date on the latest relating to CCI edits. Cardiology coding seminars are a good place to get comprehensive knowledge about CCI edits and all; but if you missed out on it or there's no cardiology coding conferences scheduled for a long time to come, worry not. There are audio recordings in CDs and MP3s to take you through all the cardiology coding know how and the latest CCI edits.


Gain knowledge about medical coding by attending proper medical coding conferences along with premier coding experts, CDs, tapes and transcripts of coding training information by specialty.