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Practices can expect nearly 400 code changes in their 2023 CPT manuals, including 224 new codes, 93 revised and 74 deleted codes.
 
The highly anticipated update to the E/M guidelines and facility-based codes, home visits, consults and prolonged services accounts for one new code, 49 code revisions and 25 deletions. The AMA previously announced a major portion of the E/M coding and documentation changes in July. Now that the rest of the 2023 updates are public, take note of numerous other changes scattered throughout the 2023 manual ... 
 
 
Missing: More than 300,000 services that had been reported with 99201 (Office or other outpatient visit for the evaluation and management of a new patient, which requires these 3 key components: A problem focused history; A problem focused examination; Straightforward medical decision making. Counseling and/or coordination of care with other physicians, other qualified health care professionals, or agencies are provided consistent with the nature of the problem(s) and the patient's and/or family's needs. Usually, the presenting problem(s) are self limited or minor. Typically, 10 minutes are spent face-to-face with the patient and/or family.)
 
The AMA set off its own fireworks during the Independence Day weekend with the early release of new E/M guidelines that will be included in the 2023 CPT manual and take effect Jan. 1, 2023.
 
Practices that aren’t comfortable with the guidelines for office and other outpatient E/M visits may downcode their claims because they mistakenly believe it will protect them from audits. In addition, some private payers may automatically downcode high level claims.
Practices will be breaking in a new set of E/M guidelines for their visits in a facility starting in January of 2023, according to an AMA official. But you can expect to see the coding and guideline changes sooner than that: CMS wants to have a first look at them by early summer of this year.

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