Medicare FFS version 5010 requirement changes for non-specific procedure codes

Medicare fee-for-service (FFS) has amended the not otherwise classified (NOC) code set listing effective Monday, January 16, 2012. Various pathology and laboratory codes identified in procedure code section 8800 and a variety of other NOC codes have been removed. These codes do not meet the criteria of a non-specified procedure code and do not require a description to be supplied in the SV101-7/SV202-7 data elements. The majority of procedure codes impacted and removed from the NOC code list are anesthesia codes, laboratory/pathology codes, and physicians quality reporting system codes. Medicare FFS’s complete listing of the NOC codes can be found at https://www.CMS.gov/ElectronicBillingEDITrans/40_FFSEditing.asp. Medicare will be updating the code set, at minimum, on a quarterly basis (January, April, July, and October) as the NOC list is refined and the parent code sets are updated.