CPT Codes for testing to local anesthetics
The Advocacy Council regularly receives queries from members on how to correctly code specific scenarios. Recently we received a request for coding a local ane…
2022 Medicare Principal Care Management codes
In the Medicare Physician Fee Schedule final rule issued last November, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) added four new CPT codes in the ca…
2022 RVUs and Medicare physician fee schedule effective now
The College’s Advocacy Council, along with other organizations, has been successful in advocating for legislation to alter Medicare physician payment cuts sche…
Remote Therapeutic Monitoring – New revenue for allergists?
On Jan.1, 2022, Medicare will begin paying for remote therapeutic monitoring (RTM) services. RTM services allow for nonphysiologic data to be collected. Data c…
College advocacy largely averts Medicare pay cut
As you know, many allergists were facing reductions in Medicare payments that could have been as high as 9.75% beginning Jan. 1 if Congress did not step in to …
Open season for deciding Medicare participation
Every year, between mid-November and December 31, physicians have the opportunity to change their Medicare participation status for the following year. Physici…
Final 2022 Physician Fee Schedule
CMS released the final 2022 Medicare physician fee schedule rule on November 2, 2021. The new rates take effect on January 1, 2022. CMS estimated the policy ch…
Correction: When to count tests for E/M coding based on MDM
There has been a great deal of confusion regarding how to count tests/procedures for purposes of coding office visits based on medical decision making (MDM), a…
More clarification of 2022 proposed fee schedule
New Medicare billing rights for physician assistantsBeginning Jan. 1, 2022, physician assistants (PAs) will be able to bill Medicare independently for their se…
More E/M coding direction
The 2020 physician fee schedule finalized changes in evaluation and management (E/M) codes that became effective Jan. 1, 2021. It quickly became evident from p…
We clarify Evaluation and Management codes
This article has corrected information as of July 22, 2021.The 2020 physician fee schedule finalized changes in evaluation and management (E/M) codes that beca…
Need guidance on E/M codes based on time?
The 2020 physician fee schedule finalized changes in evaluation and management (“E/M”) codes that became effective Jan.1, 2021. It quickly became evident from …
Billing for Mid-level practitioners
Many commercial payers have begun to require that services performed by mid-level practitioners be billed under the National Provider Identifier (NPI) number …
AAP payments may begin in April
Early in the pandemic, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) offered Medicare providers loans, based on past Medicare billing, to help strugglin…
Summary of the American Rescue Plan
Last week, President Biden signed the $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan (ARP), which provides new COVID-19 relief as well as establishes other policies. The D…
Can mid-level practitioners provide skin testing?
Many allergists are assisted by nurse practitioners (NPs) and/or physician assistants (PAs) in providing care in the office. The Advocacy Council frequently re…
2021 E/M coding and documentation rules
New rules for reporting outpatient office evaluation and management (E/M) services took effect Jan. 1. The coding and documentation revisions, adopted by the …
Good news for allergist payment
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) revised the 2021 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule (MPFS) rates and conversion factor (CF) following changes…
Billing for biological products
The Advocacy Council recently learned of a number of payer audits and recoupment requests related to Xolair billing - when a portion of the vial must be discar…
New prolonged service CPT code for 2021
Beginning in 2021, there will be a new code for reporting prolonged services together with an office visit. The new code, CPT Code 99417, replaces CPT Codes 99…
