2009 Cardiology Billing

This year marks to be one of the important years in medical billing and coding reformation system. Since 1990, this has been the most important change in the cardiology billing and coding system. The alternation in this year's billing system is sure to hit the cardiologists hard. Instead of 1% increase of the average physicians, the cardiologists this year finds a 2% per cent reduction in Medicare fees. But this 2% reduction in Medicare for cardiology can not be applied uniformly. There is a group of cardiology practitioners, like the heavy users of echo services, that remains above this reduction in cardiology billing.

Following are some of the recommended modifications for cardiological billing and coding:

• The codes used for follow-up on implanted devices and external devices have been completely replaced. The revised version now include codes for reprogramming of ICD and ICM devices, Loop recorders, Pacemaker and interrogation.
• The new codes are service specific. The most important is that every service now has its own specific corresponding code. Be it interrogation evaluation of a programming or reprogramming of ICD or ICM device, there is an assigned code for everything.
• Devices, such as, Cardionet also have codes now. The concept of billing unlisted code has become completely obsolete because of the recent change in billing and coding system.
• The global period of device follow-up is now changed to global periods of 30 or 90 days.
• The echo services also got its new code, for example, when echo is done with the help of a Doppler, now it gets a new code to submit that bunch of service into a single code.
• The same holds true for new stress echo code. The stress echo code combines the stress test code and stress echo code in a single code.

These are some of the major modifications of the cardiological billing system of 2009. The medical billing companies should be aware and well versed about these changes. A slight mistake or misconception might result in a huge loss. So 2009 is the time for the medical billing companies to upgrade and update itself to the latest changes in the cardiological billing and coding system.