News: July OPPS update brings changes to ophthalmologic, maternal care codes

CMS released a change request May 30 describing changes which will be implemented in the July 2017 quarterly update to the outpatient prospective payment system (OPPS). These changes include 10 new Category III CPT® codes, with six ophthalmologic codes and four fetal monitoring codes.

The ophthalmologic codes include one code for a retinal polarization scan (0469T), two codes for optical coherence tomography imaging (0470T-0471T), two codes for device evaluation of an intra-ocular retinal electrode array (0472T-0473T), and one code for the insertions of an anterior segment aqueous drainage device (0474T). The new fetal monitoring codes (0475T-0478T) all relate to recording fetal magnetic cardiac signals and differ based on how the data is processed, stored, and analyzed by a qualified health professional.

The change request also lists three new separately payable healthcare common procedure coding system (HCPCS) codes and three new drug codes for intrauterine contraceptive and maternal care medication. All six codes will be effective as of July 1.

Editor’s note: This article originally appeared in JustCoding. To read the change request from CMS, click here.