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Pathology/Lab Coding Alert

Reader Question:

Heads Up on DOS Policy Change

Published on Fri Jan 15, 2010

Question: Did CMS's date of service rules go into effect on Jan. 4 as planned? Florida Subscriber Answer: No. CMS changed the implementation date from Jan. 4 to July 1. Where to look: CMS replaced Transmittal 1823 with Transmittal 1873 (www.cms.hhs.gov/transmittals/downloads/R1873CP.pdf). In short, Transmittal 1823 provided instructions on proper place of service (POS) and date of service (DOS) reporting. The only difference between the two transmittals is an implementation date change for the DOS instructions, changing the Jan. 4 date to July 1. The POS requirements are effective Jan. 4 in both transmittals. DOS rule: Many labs find the DOS rule confusing and potentially very difficult to implement. The transmittal indicates that you should choose the actual interpretation date as the DOS for diagnostic test interpretation. Too many questions: Labs have a lot of questions that need answering before they can implement the policy. For instance, must you use [...]
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