new acupu ncture codes

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David Wells' replies:

 

Dear Laura,

 

I only used the example of 20 patients a day in the article I wrote to

acupuncturists such as yourself on the email list of AAOM.  No

indication of a normal daily work load was given to the AMA's Relative

Unit Committee.  The information that led to the work value of the

codes was derived from a survey of acupuncturists across the country. 

We never asked how many they see in a day.  We only asked what steps

they took and how many minutes was required for each step to perform a

standardized treatment.  I was not one of the acupuncturists surveyed,

nor was anyone on the committee.

 

In regards to your question about a range of reimbursement, neither I

nor the association can even suggest a range of numbers.  Any hint of

guidance in this regard is considered " collusion " and is punishable

under the federal Racketeering and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO). 

Sorry.  That's why I gave a suggestion as to how you might arrive at a

fair market price on your own.

 

David Wells

 

and

 

Dear Dave Molony,

 

I don't know what Richard is referring to and cannot comment on the

accuracy of the statement regarding Florida or New Mexico (presumably

their work comp systems).  All I know is the Medicare conversion

factor, which is 37.8925.  This equates to a paltry $22.74 for the

initial 15 minutes of acupuncture.  However, the Medicare fee schedule

is considerably below market.  I addressed the issue of " what to charge

and what will they pay me? " in my article.   Personally, I do not base

my charges on what someone other than the patient is willing to pay.

 

Regards,

David Wells

 

 

So there you have it. If you are going to do a medicare only practice using

only acupuncture and not doing an examination deep enough to qualify for E & M

coding or a second acupuncture 15 minutes (such as a second side), you have to

treat a lot of patients, similar to my clinical training in China, where I

was in a room of 8 tables and rotated thru them with a nurse staying ahead of me

taking needles out. Needless to say, I don't have that style of practice

today, but some may want to. Let's face it. When a government is involved

(nationalized healthcare?), people get less personalized care. Now, is this

something we should not have done? If we didn't participate, it would have been

worse

yet.

As I said earlier, I am still a BIG proponent of the ABC codes, as is the

AAOM, I assume (I am writing this personally and not as a rep of AAOM, so I

cannot pretend to provide their take on this). Use the ABC codes every time you

send insurance billing out, and use CPT as a backup, but learn how to use it too

your best ability by taking a course on coding and working with your state and

national organization to bring your scope up to par so that you can bill for

items other than acupuncture alone, if you use those things, you should bill

for them. For instance, cupping is vasopnumatics. I suspect that there will be

organizations providing educational programs on coding for acupuncture coming

out of the woodwork soon.

 

David Molony

101 Bridge Street

Catasauqua, PA 18032

Phone (610)264-2755

Fax (610) 264-7292