Note from the Instructor: CMS Issues Recurring Update Notification Highlighting Important CY2013 OPPS Changes

On Friday, CMS released its annual recurring update notification reflecting the claims processing-related changes implemented in the CY 2013 OPPS final rule. Hospitals and CAHs are encouraged to review the transmittal more thoroughly to assure that they are prepared to implement these changes for services provided on and after January 1, 2013.

Hospitals and CAHs are also encouraged to be on the lookout for a similar transmittal (which has not yet been released) designed to reflect benefit-related changes included in the CY 2013 OPPS final rule. CMS also noted that the January 2013 integrated outpatient code editor (I/OCE) and OPPS pricer will reflect the healthcare common procedure coding system (HCPCS), ambulatory payment classification (APC), HCPCS modifier, and revenue code additions, changes, and deletions identified in this transmittal.

Highlights

CMS identified the following key changes for CY 2013:

• Changes to device, radiolabeled product and procedure edits for January 2013. The most current list of device edits can be found at http://www.cms.gov/Medicare/Medicare-Fee-for-Service-Payment/HospitalOutpatientPPS/ .Failure to pass these edits will result in the claim being returned to the provider.
• Intracoronary stent placement procedure codes. The deletion of two CPT codes (92980 and 92981) that describe the placement of non-drug-eluting intracoronary stents and two existing HCPCS G-codes that describe the placement of drug-eluting intracoronary stents, along with the creation of nine new HCPCS C-codes in order to maintain the existing OPPS policy of differentiating payment for intracoronary stent placement procedures involving non-drug?eluting and drug-eluting stents for CY 2013.
• Outpatient payment for composite APC 8000. Modification of the intracardiac catheter ablation codes that may qualify a cardiac electrophysiologic evaluation and ablation service for composite payment under composite APC 8000 for services provided on and after 1/1/13. CMS’ action follows the AMA CPT editorial panel’s deletion of CPT codes 93651 and 93652 (intracardiac catheter ablation codes), effective 1/1/2013 and creation of new CPT codes 93653, 93654, and 93656, effective 1/1/2013.
• New 'sometimes therapy' services that may be paid as non-therapy services for hospital outpatients, Effective January 1, 2013 the addition of two HCPCS codes (G0456 and G0457) to the list of PT/SLP/OT “sometimes therapy” services that may be paid under certain circumstances to a facility under the OPPS. The limited set of sometimes therapy services are paid under the OPPS when they are not furnished as therapy, that is, when they are not furnished under a certified therapy plan of care.
• Coding changes for partial hospitalization psychiatric (PHP) services. Following the AMA’s CPT editorial panel deletion of 28 psychiatric CPT codes, including those related to PHP services, and replacing them with 12 new CPT codes (effective for services provided on and after 1/1/13),CMS’ implementation of corresponding changes to the PHP code set that is used for billing and documenting PHP services.
• Certain changes to drugs, biologicals, and radiopharmaceuticals:
  • Effective for services provided on and after 1/1/13, the creation of several new HCPCS codes to identify those drugs, etc. for which no specific code had previously been created. The new codes are set out in Table 1 of Attachment A to the transmittal;
  • Effective for services provided on and after 1/1/13, changes to the HCPCS/CPT or long descriptor, or both, of certain drugs, etc. These changes are set out in Table 2 of Attachment A to the transmittal. Hospitals are once again admonished to pay close attention to accurate billing for units of service consistent with the dosages contained in the long descriptors of the active CY 2013 HCPCS and CPT codes;
  • For CY 2013, payment for nonpass-through drugs, biologicals and therapeutic radiopharmaceuticals is made at a single rate of ASP + 6%, which provides payment for both the acquisition and pharmacy overhead costs associated with the drug, biological or therapeutic radiopharmaceutical. In CY 2013, a single payment of ASP + 6% will also be made (providing payment for both associated acquisition and pharmacy overhead costs for these pass-through drugs, biologicals and radiopharmaceuticals);
  • Any changes in the payment rates effective for services provided on and after 1/1/13, based on sales price submissions from the third quarter of CY 2012, will be incorporated into the January 2013 release of the OPPS Pricer.
• CY 2013 OPPS payment adjustment for certain cancer hospitals. CMS’ updating of the “target payment to cost ratio (PCR)” for CY 2013, for purposes of the cancer hospital payment adjustment, to 0.91 for outpatient services furnished on or after January 1, 2013 through December 31, 2013. Under the Affordable Care Act (ACA),beginning in CY 2012, CMS is to provide additional payments to each of the 11 cancer hospitals so that each cancer hospital’s final payment to cost ratio (PCR) for services provided in a given calendar year is equal to the weighted average PCR (which CMS refers to as the “target PCR”) for other hospitals paid under the OPPS.
• Changes to OPPS pricer logic:
  • Rural sole community hospitals (SCHs) and essential access community hospitals (EACHs) will continue to receive a 7.1% payment increase for most services (excluding drugs, biologicals, items and services paid at charges reduced to cost, and items paid under the pass-through payment policy) in CY 2013;
  • New OPPS payment rates and copayment amounts will be effective January 1, 2013. All copayment amounts will be limited to a maximum of 40% of the APC payment rate. Copayment amounts for each individual service cannot exceed the CY 2013 inpatient deductible;
  • For hospital outlier payments under OPPS, there will be no change in the multiple threshold of 1.75, which will continue to apply for 2013;
  • In addition, for hospital outlier payments under the OPPS, there will be no change in the fixed-dollar threshold of $2,025, which will continue to apply for CY 2013. The estimated cost of a service must be greater than the APC payment amount plus $2,025 in order to qualify for outlier payments;
  • For outliers for community mental health centers (bill type 76x), there will be no change in the multiple threshold of 3.4, which will continue to apply for 2013;
  • Effective January 1, 2013, 3 devices are eligible for pass-through payment (pass-through payment generally equals charges reduced to cost, sometimes subject to an offset amount) in the OPPS Pricer logic. Category C1830 (Powered bone marrow biopsy needle), has an offset amount of $0, because CMS is not able to identify portions of the APC payment amounts for the related procedure that were associated with the cost of a predecessor device. Category C1840 (Lens, intraocular (implantable)) and C1886 (Catheter, extravascular tissue ablation, any modality (insertable)) have offset amounts included in the Pricer for CY 2013, because CMS was able to identify portions of the APC payment amounts for the related procedures that were associated with the cost of certain predecessor devices. Pass-through offset amounts are adjusted annually;
  • Effective January 1, 2013, there will be one diagnostic radiopharmaceutical receiving pass-through payment in the OPPS Pricer logic. For APCs containing nuclear medicine procedures, Pricer will reduce the amount of the pass-through diagnostic radiopharmaceutical payment by the wage-adjusted offset for the APC with the highest offset amount when the radiopharmaceutical with pass-through appears on a claim with a nuclear procedure. The offset will cease to apply when the diagnostic radiopharmaceutical expires from pass-through status. The offset amounts for diagnostic radiopharmaceuticals are the “policy-packaged” portions of the CY 2013 APC payments for nuclear medicine procedures and may be found on the CMS website;
  • Effective January 1, 2013, the OPPS Pricer will continue to apply a reduced update ratio of 0.980 to the payment and copayment for hospitals that fail to meet their hospital outpatient quality data reporting requirements or that fails to meet CMS validation edits. The reduced payment amount will be used to calculate outlier payments, if any;
  • Pricer will continue to update the payment rates for drugs, biologicals, therapeutic radiopharmaceuticals, and diagnostic radiopharmaceuticals with pass-through status when those payment rates are based on ASP, on a quarterly basis.

Again, hospitals and CAHs are encouraged to review this transmittal closely to assure that they are prepared to comply with these changes effective for applicable services provided on and after 1/1/13.