Neurosurgery Coding Alert

Early information suggests significant changes to CPT for 2008, including 242 new codes, 298 revised codes, and 364 deleted codes. The changes reportedly affect all sections of CPT.

Sources reveal that there will be three new, time-based codes for telephone services, as well as a new Category I code (99444) for online E/M visits--so-called -e-visits--to replace Category III code 0074T.

Don't get too excited yet: -Just because you have new codes, that doesn't mean Medicare will pay,- says Marti Geron, reimbursement manager with University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas. In fact, CMS traditionally does not pay for non-face-to-face services, of which telephone and Internet visits are examples.

Stay tuned: The AMA officially releases the new CPT codes each year during its annual Chicago CPT Symposium in November. Keep watching Neurosurgery Coding Alert for complete information, as it becomes available, on the changes that will affect you most.