QUESTION: We are negotiating to provide pain stimulator services. We will report code 63650 for the trial and codes 63685 and 63650 for the permanent. According to everything we have read from CMS, our claims will be processed per the hospital OPPS because it is a device-intensive procedure. Our vendor told us that we should include implants in our CPT code(s) and that we should not bill for them. According to the OPPS, we should bill them separately. Can you provide us with a definitive answer?

When charging for infusions that have multiple IV sites, treat each IV site separately. Report an initial code and add-on codes to represent the type and duration of drugs administered through that IV site. You must append modifier -59 to all codes that represent the second IV site.

The 2008 OPPS final rule challenges outpatient facilities to be more exact than ever regarding documentation and coding. This is most true when it comes to the E/M process. Hospitals run into difficulty putting the rule into practice, shedding some cherished but inaccurate beliefs about documentation best practices, and widening the circle of responsibility for documentation improvement.

Who is the only non-Jedi in the original Star Wars trilogy to use a lightsaber?