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Active code book
One of the most powerful resources with Chargemaster Toolkit is the Active Code Book. The Active Code Book contains all of the following information in one easy to use tool that is available from anywhere a selected CPT/HCPCS Code appears in your data file.
- CPT code book
- HCPCS code book
- UB-92 revenue code resource
- Code replacement information (when applicable)
- Modifier assessment and assignment
- Compliance references
- Payment status indicator information
- Reimbursement data
- Links to associated procedures in the CDM (when applicable)
- LCD (formally LMRP) search tools
- CMS Program Transmittal search tool
- Hospital CCI Edits
- Physician CCI Edits
- New CPT/HCPCS code listings
- Description search tool
- Option to add identified code as a new charge
Options checklist:
- I want to research a specific CPT or HCPCS Code for applicable revenue codes, modifiers, payment status indicator and payment rates, etc.
- I want to identify the relevant CPT or HCPCS code by searching on a description.
- I want to search for detail about a CPT or HCPCS Code not currently in my CDM.
- I want to search for CMS Program Transmittals and Local Coverage Determinations related to a specific CPT or HCPCS code.
- I want to review all new CPT and HCPCS codes for this year and last year.
- I want to see if CCI edits apply to a particular CPT/HCPCS code.
- I want to know what modifiers can be used with a particular CPT/HCPCS code.
- I want to see all billing codes in my CDM with a specific CPT/HCPCS code.
- I want to copy information from the Active Code Book reference tool into the audit trail of a specific billing code to support a maintenance event.
- I want to search for relevant National Drug Code details.
- I want to give users access to the reference tools but not the CDM.
Key information and lessons from the field
- Anywhere you see the blue “I” icon in the Toolkit you can view detail about a selected CPT or HCPCS code. Relevant information includes AMA code details, revenue codes and modifier options, cross reference to all billing codes in the CDM with the same code, potential compliance issues, payment status indicators, fee schedules and links to relevant LMRP, LCD and CMS Program Transmittals, hospital and physician CCI edits. You will also find lists of replacement codes and linked codes that already exist in the CDM.
- When you do not know the appropriate CPT or HCPCS Code the Toolkit will allow you to do a description search, either on an existing item description or on any description you type. When performing this search it is important to keep your search as specific as possible.
For example, if you search on Herceptin 440mg Injection the tool offers over one-thousand possible matches because the Toolkit produces results based on each word entered in the search. If you remove the word Injection the search results drop to a few hundred. If you edit the search to Herceptin only two results are returned.
- The View option within Active Code Book lists all new CPT and HCPCS codes for the past two years displaying effective dates and whether the code is present or missing from the CDM. Depending on the user permissions new codes can also be added to the CDM through this tool.
- Entering a CPT or HCPCS code into the Active Code Book allows the user to display code detail for any code from any location within the Toolkit. However Active Code Book’s initial CPT or HCPCS selection defaults to the record currently selected in the active window.
- The Active Code Book popup window can be dragged to any location in the active record window allowing you to simultaneously select and edit different billing codes while using the reference tool. This allows the user to copy relevant text from Active Code Book to a note in the audit trail of one or multiple billing codes selected in the Active Window.
- National Drug Codes can be researched directly from within Active Code Book via its list of Search options. This information is useful when researching intent of service issues raised by the Toolkit for inappropriate units of service billed for a drug. It can also be used to determine if an appropriate HCPCS code could be billed via its CMS to NDC crosswalk.
- All of the resources available within Active Code Book are available to non-Toolkit users through Craneware’s web browser based Craneware Online tool. Most facility contracts include several Craneware Online licenses. These are concurrent licenses that can be shared by multiple users. No direct access to the CDM file is necessary to be a Craneware Online user. Your Chargemaster Toolkit Supervisor adds Craneware Online users through the user permissions process within the Toolkit.
Further reading:
Active Code Book Training Guide
See Also
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