subject: You can't Report Alcohol & Tobacco Screening Codes with E/M Services [print this page] You can't Report Alcohol & Tobacco Screening Codes with E/M Services
But then the good news is that you will soon be able to report operating microscope code 69990 with 61781-61783.
By now, you must be quite familiar with the just in codes that CPT 2011 got with it. But then the latest version of correct coding initiative (CCI) version 17.1 is likely to make some code pairings impossible.
Recently, the correct coding initiative (CCI) released version 17.1; according to Frank D. Cohen, MPA, MBB, senior analyst with MIT Solutions, Inc., this time there were 11,831 new edit pairs and 346 terminations. Thankfully, this time around there is relatively few changes as compared to the previous CCI edits.
Just-in bundles: Among the latest edits that will be instituted on April 1 this year, you will find that alcohol and/or substance abuse assessment codes G0396 and G0397 are bundled into most of the Evaluation & Management codes (99201-99239). In most instances, you can use a modifier to separate these edits, assuming that the documentation confirms the separate and distinct nature of the services and demonstrates medical necessity for both the visit as well as the substance assessment.
You will also find the alcohol and/or substance abuse screening and intervention codes 99408-99409 bundled into the evaluation & management (E/M) codes under the latest correct coding initiative edits and no modifier will separate these edits.
Modifier changes: In addition to coming up with new code pair edits, CCI 17.1 also prevents you from appending a modifier from specific edit sets. For example, prior to this you were able to add a modifier (such as 59, Distinct procedural service) to separate the edits bundling nerve block codes 64402-64405 and 64415-64417 into drainage service insertion code 0191T; but then correct coding initiative 17.1 puts an end to all that. The modifier indicator for this code pair is now "0"; this means that no modifier can separate the edits.
On the bright side, correct coding initiative (CCI) makes modifier use possible with the edits bundling operating microscope code 69990 into new stereotactic computer-assistant navigational procedure codes 61781-61783. On the other hand, the modifier indicator on these bundles used to be "0"; the latest CCI 17.1 changes it to "1".
To read more about the latest CCI edits (CCI 17.1) , sign up for a good one-stop medical coding guide like Supercoder. Such a site comes with a CCI tool to help you maneuver the changes faster and more easily.
