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Understanding the costs associated with surgery upfront is important for both patients and payers. A surgical letter includes the expected costs a surgeon anticipates for a specific surgery. The purpose of the letter is to provide a budget for preoperative care, costs on the day of surgery, and postoperative care. The letter may be created […]
The post How to Craft a Surgical Letter appeared first on AAPC Knowledge Center.
The October 2022 update to the ASC Payment System brings new codes, payment indicator changes, and corrected drug payments. Fourth quarter updates to the Ambulatory Surgical Center payment system (ASC PS), effective Oct. 1, 2022, include a new device pass-through code, new HCPCS Level II codes for drugs and biologicals, and new low-cost and high-cost […]
The post What’s New for Surgical Centers? appeared first on AAPC Knowledge Center.
Know how to differentiate modifiers 58, 78, and 79 to ensure proper reimbursement for all procedures performed. Modifiers convey important information about a claim and can directly affect reimbursement. But choosing the most appropriate modifier can be confusing — especially when two or more modifiers have similar descriptors. Modifiers 58, 78, and 79 are all […]
The post Append Surgical Modifiers With Confidence appeared first on AAPC Knowledge Center.
An Ambulatory Surgical Center Payment System (ASC PS) update that took effect July 1, 2019, changes billing instructions for various payment policies and codes. Here is what you need to know to properly bill Medicare for these services and supplies. New CPT Category III Codes Effective July 1, 2019, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid […]
The post Ambulatory Surgical Center Payment System July 2019 Update appeared first on AAPC Knowledge Center.
AAPC’s Regional Conference in New York City (Aug. 19-21) is the place to be for everyone on the revenue management side of healthcare; it provides the latest education, networking, vendors, and opportunities to keep you ahead of other healthcare business professionals. If you are a medical coder, biller, or auditor you’ll find it’s a treasure trove of career resources ― […]
The post Surgical Complications Don’t Have to Be Complicated in New York City appeared first on AAPC Knowledge Center.
ICD-10-CM added several new codes for fiscal year 2019 to chapter 15: Pregnancy, Childbirth and the Puerperium (O00-09A) under subcategory O86 Other puerperal infections. To use these codes, you now need to know the depth of the post-procedural surgical site infection (SSI) and whether there is sepsis. The new SSI codes are: O86.00 Infection of […]
The post Coding for Obstetric Surgical Site Infections appeared first on AAPC Knowledge Center.
Make quick and easy work of determining which procedures and services are bundled and when. Most coders, billers, and clinicians are familiar with the concept of the surgical package or global period; but they may be unclear about when the global period begins and ends, and which procedures and services may be reported (and paid […]
The post Your Quick Guide to the Global Surgical Package appeared first on AAPC Knowledge Center.
When I was hired at my current job at a hospital many, many years ago I was instructed not to append -59 to multiple counts of the pathology codes [eg. 88300-26 x2]. We have never had any issues…now our billing department is wanting the "X" modifiers appended to them.
My question:
Is it appropriate to code 88300-26-XU for the gross description of two separate specimen? Or any other surgical pathology code with multiple counts of the same code, gross was just an example?
Thanks