A range of important changes are expected to happen by the end of year 2025 concerning the cardiology billing and the coding requirements, which makes it even harder for the providers to generate revenues and ensure functionality in the context of competitive industry environment. So, to succeed in this field, you need to continually update your knowledge and ensure compliance to deliver quality services.
Moreover, with the new additions in patient turnover and the overwhelming work pressure, dealing with the newly emerging laws and regulations can be a big challenge for providers like you. That is where an expert cardiology billing company comes into the picture!
In this blog, we have therefore looked at the emerging shifts in cardiology coding as well as the solution that comes with partnering with a revenue cycle management company.
Effective cardiology billing requires coding implementation that is efficient and quality to produce timely reimbursements. The restructuring within the system will take effect from January 1, 2025. The 2025 coding updates introduce significant changes in the billing processes, including:
Elimination of telephone evaluation and management codes
Codes for telephone evaluation and management, 99441-99443, will be deleted.
Medicare fee adjustments
In 2025, the Medicare Physician fee schedule will be discounted by 2.83% from 2024 to $32.3465. The overall reimbursements for the cardiovascular services will remain the same. However, individual providers might notice a shift on their reimbursements rates depending on their service mix.
Procedure code deletion
Certain CPT codes, such as 33471, 33737, and 33813, will be eliminated. Depending on the same you must make billing adjustments to ensure accurate reimbursements.
Introduction to new category III codes
For the upcoming year, there will be a lot of new ECG-related codes under Category III. For instance, electrocardiogram, algorithmically generated 12 lead ECG from a reduced lead ECG with interpretation and report 0903T will be obtained through 0905T, which is interpretation and report only.
You will also be able to report several new external electrocardiographic codes such as 0937T (External electrocardiographic recording for greater than 15 days up to 30 days by continuous rhythm recording and storage including recording, scanning analysis with report only but should be interpreted and reviewed by a physician/ other qualified health care professional) through 0940T (External electrocardiographic monitoring for any number of days greater than 15.
Finally, 2025: 0897T Noninvasive Augmentative Arrhythmia Analysis, which is based on quantitative computational cardiac arrhythmia simulations using clinical data that has been uploaded and selected intervals of interest from 12-lead ECGs and uploaded clinical parameters, including uploading clinical parameters with interpretation and report according to the descriptive definition.
This calls for an investment of a significant amount of time and resources, which is next to impossible considering your clinical responsibilities. But a revenue cycle management organization specialized in cardiology billing can help you eliminate the challenges and optimize revenue.
Expertise in cardiology-specific coding
An expert medical billing company will have a team of trained billers and coders who understand and can implement accurate codes within the process which reduces the chances of cardiology claim denials.
Improved documentation
The detailed documentation requirements in billing seem daunting to the providers. However, a team of experts work closely with practices and payers which make it easier for them to align with the documentation requirements for any cardiology test like echocardiogram, ECG etc. Thus, you have opportunities to obtain timely and precise reimbursements.
Cost efficiency and scalability
Hiring or having an in-house billing department could be expensive for you, when you have to take care of evolving codes, regulations while managing other adminstrative burden at the same time. Particularly in situations of numerous alterations in regulations, an experienced and efficient medical billing company here has fewer overhead expenses in terms of personnel, training, system upgrades and others. Moreover, these companies provide additional services that are easily growable with the size and requirements of practices.
Focus on patient care
High quality care is the primary requirement of healthcare, and for a crucial specialty like cardiology, care quality is always a matter of concern. With a team of billing experts as an operational extension, you can devote more time and resources to patient care. This not only improves patient health outcomes but also patient satisfaction.
End Note
Along with new opportunities, the year 2025 is also bringing numerous coding and billing challenges that can increase the administrative burden of providers like you. It is the time to find a strategic approach that comes in handy when you consider efficient revenue cycle management. An outsourced cardiology billing company can help you eliminate all the hurdles in revenue optimization and elevate the performance of your practice in the long run.