Oops They Did It Again!

How many times is CMS going to change the codes for Skin Substitutes? ...Anyone ...Anyone?  I don't know really, probably as often as they feel like.

So what happened?

1. CMS deleted all of the J codes for skin substitutes,  (J7340-J7349 and C9357); gone.
2. CMS created a whole bunch of new Q codes for the existing skin substitutes, copied over the old descriptions from the J codes to the Q codes, AND they added the product brand names to the descriptions.
3. CMS awarded GammaGraft a new Q code.

What didn't happen?

1. OrCel and TransCyte were left out in the cold.  They did not get new Q codes.
2. The payment for the existing codes did not change.  All of these products are on the NDC-HCPCS Crosswalk will continue to be paid based on the Average Sales Price (ASP) list that is released quarterly.  Remember, doctors who use the products in their offices get paid ASP+6% and HOPDs get paid ASP+4%.

What do I have to do?

1. IntelliTrak users don't have to do anything to your clinical procedures in the software.  We're handling all of these changes in IntelliTrak 3.8 SP1.
2. Everyone (including IntelliTrak users) should make sure that your chargemasters are up to date and reflect these new changes.  I will be posting an Excel file to the blog that summarizes the code changes soon to help you out.