Respiratory Question for the Week of August 6, 2018

Question:

How should a series of back-to-back continuous inhalation therapy treatments be coded?

Answer:

Billing the following codes would be appropriate for coding a series of back-to-back continuous inhalation therapy treatments when the total time equals one hour or more:

The above instruction was revised by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) in the 2018 National Correct Coding Initiative Manual for Medicare Services. This change to NCCI policy places emphasis on the need for accurate recording of start and stop times for the individual treatments and documentation that allows for capture of total therapy time.