The AMA CPT Editorial Panel approved draft changes to a series of Evaluation and Management (E/M) service CPT codes at its February 2019 CPT Editorial Panel meeting attended by ISASS representatives.  The changes had been developed by a Joint Workgroup of AMA CPT and AMA RUC members, which held multiple stakeholder calls and meetings across...

ISASS has published a new policy statement on Bone Grafting procedures and an updated policy on Vertebral Augmentation. These policies are based on review by clinical experts and reviewed and published in the International Journal of Spine Surgery, the official ISASS journal, in February 2019. Links to the policy statements can be found on the...

For the first time, the federal government has made public chargemaster data for the 100 most common Medicare inpatient diagnostic related groups or DRGs. The data show that hospital prices often vary widely, even within the same within the same city or region. The massive file contains chargemaster data, or what some call the “sticker...

ISASS Coding and Reimbursement Task Force Chair Dr. Morgan Lorio participated in a meeting with officials from Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, or CMS, to discuss reimbursement of minimally invasive spine surgery procedures in the Medicare Physician Fee Schedule.  The meeting occurred February 6, 2019, and was focused primarily on CPT code 27279, Minimally...