Neurosurgery Coding Alert

Codes will still be there, just don't use them for Medicare. In the July 13 Federal Register, CMS announced a proposal to eliminate consultation codes starting on Jan. 1, 2010. Rumors have abounded since then, so here's the latest information on what the proposal could mean  for your coding and your practice's reimbursement. Pay Is Gone, Codes Will Stay The plan includes eliminating CMS reimbursement for all inpatient (99251-99255, Inpatient consultation for a new or established patient ...) and outpatient (99241- 99245, Office consultation for a new or established patient ...) consultation codes. This change would "result in a net decrease in allowed charges of approximately $1 billion, which we are proposing to bundle back into the initial hospital care visits and initial nursing facility care visits," stated CMS's Whitney May during a July 9 CMS Open Door Forum. "Payment for these visits would also increase, depending on how we [...]