Medicare Compliance & Reimbursement - 2017 Issue 7
Reimbursement Update: Update Your Systems To Handle OPPS, ASC Changes That Take Effect July 1, 2017
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Article Overview
This article reviews mid-year reimbursement changes effective July 1, 2017 for hospital outpatient departments and ambulatory surgery centers. It highlights newly separately payable HCPCS procedure codes, drugs assigned pass-through status, new HCPCS drug codes, a flu vaccine payment update, and newly added Category III CPT codes under OPPS. The article is relevant to facility coders, billers, reimbursement staff, and compliance teams who need to track Medicare outpatient payment updates and related CMS guidance.
Why This Topic Matters
Facilities that bill OPPS and ASC claims need to update charge capture, payment logic, and coding workflows when CMS changes become effective mid-year. This update helps readers identify which broad categories of services and codes were affected so they can review the full guidance and associated CMS MLN Matters articles.
Article Sections
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Mid-Year Payment Changes for HOPDs and ASCs
Introduces the July 1, 2017 update and the facility settings affected. It frames the article as a summary of reimbursement changes and points readers to related CMS guidance.
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Separately Payable HCPCS Codes
Covers new HCPCS procedure codes that received separately payable status in the outpatient and ambulatory surgery environments. The section identifies the categories of procedures affected.
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Drug Pass-Through Status
Summarizes drugs that received pass-through status for the update period. It explains the reimbursement context at a high level without going into selection details.
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New HCPCS Drug Codes
Reviews newly added HCPCS codes for drugs and notes their general relevance to outpatient and surgery center billing. It distinguishes the codes discussed in the article without providing coding guidance.
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Flu Vaccine Payment Timing
Notes the annual timing change for flu vaccine payment in the affected settings. This section ties the update to the upcoming influenza season.
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Category III CPT Codes Added Under OPPS
Describes the addition of Category III CPT codes under OPPS and groups them by broad clinical area. It also references the general status of Category III codes within CPT.
What You Will Learn
- Which broad types of outpatient reimbursement changes took effect mid-year in 2017
- What categories of HCPCS procedure and drug codes were newly added or reclassified
- How CMS updates can affect hospital outpatient departments and ambulatory surgery centers
- What kinds of Category III CPT code additions were included in the OPPS update
- Where to find the related CMS MLN Matters references mentioned in the article
Who Should Read This
- Hospital outpatient department coders
- Ambulatory surgery center billers
- Reimbursement specialists
- Revenue cycle staff
- Compliance teams
- Practice administrators
Codes Discussed
Code Ranges Discussed
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