AOPA Identifies 120 Changes HCPCS Codes for 2006

After carefully searching through the list of new 2006 Medicare reimbursement codes, AOPA's reimbursement experts uncovered 120 affected O&P codes. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) released this list in late October 2005.

Of these 120 codes, 57 are new codes, 44 are deleted codes and 19 have changed code descriptors.

Each year, CMS's list of Medicare reimbursement codes is modified and AOPA's experts must look at every code to note the changes, additions and deletions and to make the necessary updates to AOPA's array of O&P coding products.

AOPA reimbursement services experts Joe McTernan and Virginia Torsch looked through this year's list—which contained thousands of codes—to decipher and isolate the 120 affected O&P codes for 2006.

AOPA's Coding Committee then consulted with McTernan and Torsch to interpret the CMS language for the 120 affected codes. This interpretation translates CMS's oftentimes cumbersome language into more understandable O&P terms.

After interpreting the code language, McTernan and Torsch researched which, if any, available products the new codes represented. Once the corresponding products were paired with each new code, AOPA obtained a picture of the product and commissioned a graphic artist to create a generic drawing of that product.

AOPA then compiled all of the interpretation language and drawings for each new code for inclusion in the 2006 versions of both AOPA's CodingPro CD-ROM and AOPA's Illustrated Guide.

Annually, AOPA's reimbursement experts coordinate with the volunteer members of the AOPA Coding Committee to complete these steps when CMS releases its new codes, alerting the O&P profession to changes and keeping AOPA products current and accurate.

The 2006 AOPA Quick Coder is now available at the AOPA Bookstore. The CodingPro CD-ROM for single and network users and the Illustrated Guide will be available in early March.