Billing for Professional Telehealth Distant Site Services During the Public Health Emergency — Revised

This corrects a prior message that appeared in our March 31, 2020 Special Edition.

Building on prior action to expand reimbursement for telehealth services to Medicare beneficiaries, CMS will now allow for more than 80 additional services to be furnished via telehealth. When billing professional claims for all telehealth services with dates of services on or after March 1, 2020, and for the duration of the Public Health Emergency (PHE), bill with:

Place of Service (POS) equal to what it would have been had the service been furnished in-person
Modifier 95, indicating that the service rendered was actually performed via telehealth

As a reminder, CMS is not requiring the CR modifier on telehealth services. However, consistent with current rules for telehealth services, there are two scenarios where modifiers are required on Medicare telehealth professional claims:

Furnished as part of a federal telemedicine demonstration project in Alaska and Hawaii using asynchronous (store and forward) technology, use GQ modifier
Furnished for diagnosis and treatment of an acute stroke, use G0 modifier

There are no billing changes for institutional claims; critical access hospital method II claims should continue to bill with modifier GT.

Trump Administration Issues Key Recommendations to Nursing Homes, State and Local Governments

On April 3, at the direction of President Trump, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), in consultation with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), issued critical recommendations to state and local governments, as well as nursing homes, to help mitigate the spread of the 2019 Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) in nursing homes. The recommendations build on and strengthen recent guidance from CMS and CDC related to effective implementation of longstanding infection control procedures.

Press Release

Guidance

Billing for Multi-Function Ventilators (HCPCS Code E0467) under the COVID-19 Public Health Emergency and Otherwise

CMS recognizes that in these important times, in particular, beneficiaries, health care clinicians, suppliers, and manufacturers are looking for the broadest possible access to ventilators for their care needs. We are taking a number of steps to increase access to and remind suppliers about certain options available to them and beneficiaries regarding multi-function ventilators.

Effective immediately, CMS is suspending claims editing for multi-function ventilators when there are claims for separate devices in history that have not met their reasonable useful lifetime.

For more information on multi-function ventilators, see MLN Matters Special Edition Article SE20012.

New ICD-10-CM diagnosis code, U07.1, for COVID-19

In response to the national emergency that was declared concerning the COVID-19 outbreak, a new diagnosis code, U07.1, COVID-19, has been implemented, effective April 1, 2020.

As a result, an updated ICD-10 MS-DRG GROUPER software package to accommodate the new ICD-10-CM diagnosis code, U07.1, COVID-19, effective with discharges on and after April 1, 2020, is available on the CMS MS-DRG Classifications and Software webpage.

This updated GROUPER software package (V37.1 R1) replaces the GROUPER software package V37.1 that was developed in response to the new ICD-10-CM diagnosis code U07.0, Vaping-related disorder, also effective with discharges on and after April 1, 2020, that is currently available on the MS-DRG Classifications and Software webpage.

Providers should use this new code, U07.1, where appropriate, for discharges on or after April 1, 2020. Refer to the updated MLN Matters Articles for additional Medicare Fee-For-Service information:

For detailed information regarding the assignment of new diagnosis code U07.1, COVID-19, under the ICD-10 MS-DRGs, visit the MS-DRG Classifications and Software webpage. The announcement is located under the “Latest News” heading.

For additional information related to the new COVID-19 diagnosis code, visit the CDC website.