CMS adjusts billing rules for transitional care services

Come 2016, be prepared to adjust your billing protocol for transitional care management (TCM) services, reflected in codes 99495 and 99496.

 

In short, you can scrap the current date-of-service guidelines and instead file a TCM claim with a date of service that reflects the date of the required face-to-face visit, as Part B News reported in its coverage of the 2016 final fee schedule.

 

The previous billing protocol forced practices to wait until 30 days after the patient's discharge to both date and bill the claim. In response to the billing shift, a practice administrator in California noted, "My billers are thrilled."

 

What do you think about the shift? Good policy?

 

Share your comments below or read the full story in the Nov. 9 issue of Part B News. Or both!