General Surgery Coding Alert

Rethink separate charge for fluoroscopy Don't stay in the dark about Medicare's latest surgical bundles or you might face denials when your surgeon performs aneurysm repair and AV fistula revision together. Version 15.3 is the last Correct Coding Initiative (CCI) update of the year -- but that didn't stop CMS from adding over 16,000 edit pairs to the surgery section. Don't panic: That's a lot of code bundles, but our experts have distilled all those restrictions into four categories you need to know to avoid pitfalls for your surgery practice. 1. Check Edits Before Billing Conscious Sedation CCI 15.3 bundles moderate sedation codes 99148-+99150 (Moderate sedation services [other than those services described by codes 00100-01999], provided by a physician other than the health care professional performing the diagnostic or therapeutic service that the sedation supports ...) with just about every surgical procedure code your surgeon might use. In fact, roughly 80 [...]