Navigating E&M Code Changes





It is expected that the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) will release a completely revamped version of the evaluation and management (E&M) codes by 2021, particularly for the office visit codes (999201-99205 and 99211-99215).


In addition to the changes to the office visit codes, there were significant changes to the 2023 guidelines. These changes did not match the changes in the 1997 guidelines.


“The purpose of the update is to improve the accuracy of medical billing and coding for E&M visits in order to make them more reflective of current medical practice, to make them less administratively complex, and to reduce practitioner burnout,” said CMS, adding that “this work is critical to reducing practitioner burnout, especially given the COVID-19 outbreak.”

In 2021, a major shift occurred in how we classify office visits, specifically by reevaluating the significance of history and exam as key factors.

https://www.allzonems.com/navigating-em-code-changes/ 

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