As we all know CORONA (COVID-19) has taken its toll on our day to day life creating a lot of deaths and havoc in and around the world. The virus first detected in Wuhan city, China last December 2019 was later declared as a highly contagious disease that began to spread worldwide.
How does The United States handle this chaos?
The United States of America has now confirmed that more than 4000 cases of the CORONA virus have been witnessed across different states with the largest outbreaks in Washington, New York and California. Some states including Michigan, Newyork had already declared a state of emergency, and now the President has declared CORONA Virus to be a National emergency. People should refrain from visiting public places & avoid mass gatherings as a preventive measure to fight against its spread.
A popular Hollywood actor Tom Hanks and his wife have been tested positive for Covid-19 while on their recent visit to Australia. When the millions of people around the world are praying for their speedy recovery ,Tom Hanks has released a special note while thanking everyone for their care and love shown to him.
Moreover it has disruptive effects on the Economy and has affected the global supply of goods making it difficult for U.S firms and others. Mass flight cancellations across the globe have stranded people midway, without reaching their destinations.The first quarter growth is expected to be flat and there are high possibilities of overall GDP growth for 2020 falling.
Most of the organizations have granted WFH (Work from home) policy to their employees as a matter of precaution and to safeguard themselves from this dreadful virus.
CMS announces new Medical Billing codes for CORONAvirus
Recently CMS (The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services) announced the development of new billing codes for CORONAvirus (COVID-19).
The first billing code was initially released last month (UC0001) exclusively for SARS-CoV-2 diagnostic tests. Later the second Billing code was released in the month of March, UC0002 which will be used widely in coronavirus lab tests, authorizing laboratories to bill for non-CDC laboratory tests for novel coronavirus or COVID-19.
The CMS claims processing systems will be able to accept these medical codes from April 1,2020.The billing codes are now part of the Healthcare Common Procedure Coding System (HCPCS). HCPCS is a standardized coding system used by Medicare and other insurers to process claims from providers.
As per the latest reports from the World Health Organization , 95,000 cases of the novel coronavirus have been reported. Safety measures are taken by the world leaders by declaring emergency protocols to fight against this highly contagious disease.On March 4th CMS commended Healthcare providers to take immediate actions on infection control procedures and urged state survey agencies and accrediting organizations to primarily focus on infection control.
The Local Medicare Administrative Contractors (MACs) develop the payment amount for claims they receive for these newly created HCPCS codes in their respective jurisdictions until CMS announces National payment rates.
The information on coverage and benefits under CMS provided for the public make sure that they receive clear information on diagnostic laboratory tests , immunization and vaccines ,telemedicine , drugs and cost-sharing policies.
New Addition to the CPT from American Medical Association (AMA)
Due to the continuous raise in COVID-19 cases in the United States, AMA has announced the new addition to the Current Procedural Terminology (CPT) code that helps to regularize the process of battling against the novel coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2).
AMA Released New Codes For Coronavirus
The code 87635 for detection of SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) was accepted at the CPT Editorial Panel meeting for the 2021 CPT production cycle.This code effective from March 13,2020 helps in streamlining the reporting and reimbursement for this test in the United States.
Let’s take a look at some of the key points that physicians , healthcare providers should understand about implementing this new CPT code 87635.
The full CPT code of AMA description is: “Infectious agent detection by nucleic acid (DNA or RNA); severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) (Coronavirus disease [COVID-19]), amplified probe technique”.- The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services as discussed above has established two Healthcare Common Procedure Coding System codes for coronavirus testing. HCPCS code U0001 is for CDC labs to use, and HCPCS code U0002 is for non-CDC labs to use when reporting SARS-CoV-2 testing.
- Individual practitioners and Healthcare providers ensure to check with local payers to determine their specific reporting guidelines for this new CPT code.
Significance of 87635 Code for detection of SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19)
Multiple respiratory viruses were detected using existing codes 87631, 87632, and 87633.Similarly medical codes such as 0098U, 0099U, and 0100 were analyzed by PLA codes (proprietary laboratory analyses) and used in detecting multiple types or subtypes of respiratory pathogens.
Whereas the existing code 87635 is for the detection of SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) and any pan-coronavirus types or subtypes, and it can be reported with tests from multiple manufacturers using the stated technique.
Benefits of Medical Billing codes to Healthcare Providers
Major insurers have declared they are going to provide coronavirus diagnostics at no cost to their customers.The new unique Billing codes from CMS helps the healthcare providers in streamlining the process of diagnosis and treatment.
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