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Login | Tuesday, January 06, 2009

Orthodontic: One addition

  • D8693 – Use to report the re-bonding, re-cementation and/or repair of fixed retainers.Adjunctive

General Services: Two additions

  • D9120 – Reports sectioning a fixed partial denture for one or more connections between abutments and/or pontics when a portion of the fixed partial denture is to remain intact after the sectioning and extraction or other treatment. Includes recontouring and polishing of the retained portions.
  • D9612 –Use to report the necessary administration of at least two or more different therapeutic parenteral drugs such as antibiotics, steroids, anti-inflammatory drugs, or other therapeutic medications but not the administration of sedatives, anesthetics, or reversal agents.  Do not use this code the same day as D9610 (single administration of a therapeutic parenteral drug). Use one or the other depending on the number of drugs administered.
With these additions also come deletions. This year, three procedure codes were eliminated from the CDT 2007/2008 manual.


Deleted codes
  • D1201 and D1205— These codes were used to combine prophies and fluoride treatments into one code.  Coders now must file each separately.  
  • D6971—Used to report a cast post as part of a fixed partial denture retainer. 
     

Categories with no additions or deletions

  • Endodontic
  • Removable and fixed prosthodontic and maxillofacial prosthetics



Now that you’re aware of the changes, make sure your insurance coordinator adds these new codes to your practice management software. Study and become familiar with them.  It’s a good idea to have your entire staff review the new codes, possibly at a staff meeting, so everyone is familiar with how to code different procedures correctly.

Contact the ADA’s Council on Dental Benefit or me if you have any questions about these changes. The ADA e-mail for coding issues is dentalcode@ada.org. Other excellent sources for insurance information are the “Insurance Solutions Newsletter” at www.dental-ins-solutions.com and Dr. Charles Blair’s manual Coding with Confidence: The ‘Go To’ Guide for CDT 2007/2008.”

Check back next month for a run down of the CDT 2007/2008 code revisions. In the meantime, remember that insurance matters!
     
American Dental Association, CDT 2007/2008 (Chicago, IL: American Dental Association, 2006) pages 3 through 102

Marianne Harper owns The Art of Practice Management, a dental practice management consulting company.  Revenue and collection systems, front-desk systems, dental-medical cross-coding and employment law compliance are her specialties.  Marianne is a member of The Academy of Dental Management Consultants, The Professional Management Consultants Association and the Speaking Consulting Network (SCN). She is BOP Certified with Bent Ericksen and Associates, is a published author, and a respected speaker.  Visit her Web site at www.artofpracticemanagement.com or through the SCN Web site, www.speakingconsultingnetwork.com. You can also contact Marianne at 252-637-6259, 252-670-0403 or at a.p.m.1@suddenlink.net.   


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