April 2007

Coding Resources: AMA and AHA Answer Your
CPT, ICD-9 and HCPCS Questions
E/M Tip of the Month
Take Your Exam Online
Upcoming Events

Hello from the Board of Medical Specialty Coding! We hope you enjoy your monthly ezine and find the information useful. If you have any comments or recommendations for future issues, please contact me through the following channels:

Victoria Forlini, Executive Director
vforlini@medicalspecialtycoding.com
301/287-2250 (phone)
301/287-2941 (fax)

Coding resources: AMA and AHA answer your CPT, HCPCS & ICD-9-CM questions

The American Hospital Assoc. (AHA) Central Office on ICD-9-CM and the AHA Central Office on HCPCS have two online sites you can use to request advice about ICD-9-CM and HCPCS questions. The ICD-9-CM site is: www.ahacentraloffice.org/ahacentraloffice/html/
coding_advice/icd9cm/index.html. The HCPCS site is www.ahacentraloffice.org/ahacentraloffice/html/
coding_advice/hcpcs/index.html.

Anyone can use these sites and the services are free, confirms Nelly Leon-Chisen, AHA director of the Central Office on ICD-9-CM, Chicago. Answers to inquiries take a minimum 3-4 weeks, perhaps longer for more complex questions, she says.

On each of these sites you’ll find a link to the standard form you must use to either mail or fax your inquiry – along with the necessary supporting documentation – to the AHA Central Office. Read the websites carefully, though, because there are some caveats. AHA will not answer certain HCPCS code questions, such as those involving CPT. (That’s the purview of the American Medical Association, Leon-Chisen explains.) You also must be certain you’re asking a coding question – not a coverage or reimbursement question, she adds.

Meanwhile, if you’re stumped with a difficult CPT coding dilemma, the AMA CPT Information and Education Department now has a service called the CPT® Network (www.cptnetwork.com).

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E/M Tip of the Month
Test your E/M coding skills by identifying the answer to this question:

In physician practices tha maintain a shared medical record, can the opinion simply be placed in the common record?

Find out the answer at the bottom of this email newsletter. Also check this space monthly for the E/M Tip of the month.

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Take Your ACS or SCP Exam Online

To make test-taking easier for you, you can now take the ACS and SCP certifications and ACS recertification exams online. It's simple! Register as you normally would -- via our website or on paper, and select the Online option. We will send you an email confirming your registration and giving you further instructions. Don't worry! You still can take the exam at a conference, but we're listening to you as you search for easier ways to become certified.

Visit us at www.medicalspecialtycoding.com for more information.

Upcoming Events

Here's the 411 on some upcoming events where you'll get top-notch educational opportunities to earn CEUs and even a place to sit for your specialty certification or recertification exam!

Event: Get Ready for ICD-10-CM by Correctly Using ICD-9-CM
Date: May 3, 2007
To register or to learn more information:
www.decisionhealth.com/conferences/A1232/home.html

Event: Demystify Your Upper and Lower Endoscopy Coding: Tips to Get it Right
Date: May 8, 2007
To register or to learn more information:
www.decisionhealth.com/conferences/A1196/home.html

Event: New Frontiers in Cardiology Coding
Date: May 9-11, 2007
To register or to learn more information:
www.specialtyconferences.com/cardio2007/

Event: How to Bill Ancillary Services... And Get Paid
Date: May 15, 2007
To register or to learn more information:
www.decisionhealth.com/conferences/A1197/home.html

Event: Nuclear Medicine: Translate CPT Descriptions into the Correct Code Choice
Date: May 16, 2007
To register or to learn more information:
www.decisionhealth.com/conferences/A1215/home.html

Event: Supercharge Your E/M Coding and Utilization
Date: May 21-23
To register or to learn more information:
www.specialtyconferences.com/EM2007/

Event: Tackle Knee Coding Problems to Smooth Payment
Date: May 22, 2007
To register or to learn more information:
www.decisionhealth.com/conferences/A1145/register.html

Event: Major Gynecological Procedures: Sharpen Your Coding Skills for TAHs, Conizations, Colporrhaphies & Other Surgical Services
Date: May 23, 2007
To register or to learn more information:
www.decisionhealth.com/conferences/A1216/register.html

Event: Anesthesia Billing, Coding and Compliance
Date: June 11-13, 2007
To register or to learn more information:
www.specialtyconferences.com/anesthesia2007/

Event: Interventional Procedure Coding -- Take It to the Next Level
Date: June 14-15, 2007
To register or to learn more information:
www.specialtyconferences.com/interventional2007/

Event: Advanced Orthopedic Symposium
Date: July 18-20, 2007
To register or to learn more information:
www.specialtyconferences.com/ortho2007/index.html

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Answer to the E/M Tip of the Month is...

Yes. The consultant's written report may be part of a common medical record or in a separate letter to the requesting provider, but it must be readily available.

Source: http://www.cms.hhs.gov/MLNMattersArticles/
downloads/MM4215.pdf