Reminder: Stand by until July for the next update to the NCCI (More: CMS explains)
by Julia Kyles, CPC on Feb 24, 2023
It’s not an early April Fool’s joke: CMS won’t issue National Correct Coding Initiative (NCCI) edits in April.
CMS isn’t updating any National Correct Coding Initiative edit files this April. Continue using the January edit files until we post the July files.
Part B News has asked CMS if there’s a reason for this decision and will update this blog post with the answer.
A skipped NCCI update could be good news: You won’t need to spend time preparing for a new set of edits or worry about a sudden surge in edit-driven denials. You can use that time to focus on implementing the
April 1 update to ICD-10-CM guidelines and codes.
More: CMS responds
For several years a private contractor managed the NCCI for CMS. In response to a question from Part B News, a CMS spokesperson explained that the latest contract ended Feb. 2, CMS assumed direct management of the program and decided to skip the next update:
The period of performance for the National Correct Coding Initiative (NCCI) contract ended on February 2. The NCCI program continues to be managed by CMS. A decision was made by CMS to not make any changes to the edit files for Q2 2023. CMS continues to monitor the appropriateness of all NCCI edits and accepts comments and questions on an ongoing basis at
NCCIPTPMUE@cms.hhs.gov.