Medicare's website is so full of information. I found this LCD to be very helpful since I actively bill for a chiropractor...
LCD ID L33518
LCD Title
Chiropractic Services
AMA CPT/ADA CDT Copyright Statement
CPT only copyright 2002-2013 American Medical Association. All Rights Reserved. CPT is a registered trademark of the American Medical Association. Applicable FARS/DFARS Apply to Government Use. Fee schedules, relative value units, conversion factors and/or related components are not assigned by the AMA, are not part of CPT, and the AMA is not recommending their use. The AMA does not directly or indirectly practice medicine or dispense medical services. The AMA assumes no liability for data contained or not contained herein. The Code on Dental Procedures and Nomenclature (Code) is published in Current Dental Terminology (CDT). Copyright © American Dental Association. All rights reserved. CDT and CDT-2010 are trademarks of the American Dental Association.
Jurisdiction
Nevada
Original Effective Date
For services performed on or after 09/16/2013
Revision Effective Date
For services performed on or after 11/01/2013
Revision Ending Date
02/11/2014
Retirement Date
N/A
Notice Period Start Date
N/A
Notice Period End Date
N/A
CMS National Coverage Policy
Title XVIII of the Social Security Act, 1862(a)(1)(A). Allows coverage and payment for only those services that are considered to be medically reasonable and necessary.
Title XVIII of the Social Security Act, 1833(e). Prohibits Medicare payment for any claim, which lacks the necessary information to process the claim.
CMS Manual System, Pub. 100-02, Medicare Benefit Policy Manual, Chapter 15, §§30.5 and 240, 240.1, 240.1.1, 240.1.2, 240.1.3, 240.1.4. 240.1.5. Addresses Chiropractor's Services and Chiropractic Services - General, respectively.
CMS Manual System, Pub. 100-04, Medicare Claims Processing Manual, Chapter 12, §220. Addresses Chiropractic Services.
National policy limits the coverage of chiropractic services to the "hands on" manual manipulation of the spine for symptomatology associated with spinal subluxation. Accordingly, CPT code 98943, CMT, extraspinal, one or more regions, is not a Medicare benefit.
Coverage Guidance
Coverage Indications, Limitations, and/or Medical Necessity
Coverage of chiropractic service is specifically limited to treatment by means of manual manipulation, i.e., by use of the hands. Additionally, manual devices (i.e., those that are hand-held with the thrust of the force of the device being controlled manually) may be used by chiropractors in performing manual manipulation of the spine. However, no additional payment is available for use of the device, nor does Medicare recognize an extra charge for the device itself.
No other diagnostic or therapeutic service furnished by a chiropractor or under the chiropractor's order is covered. This means that if a chiropractor orders, takes, or interprets an x-ray, or any other diagnostic test, the x-ray or other diagnostic test, can be used for claims processing purposes, but Medicare coverage and payment are not available for those services. This prohibition does not affect the coverage of x-rays or other diagnostic tests furnished by other practitioners under the program. For example, an x-ray or any diagnostic test taken for the purpose of determining or demonstrating the existence of a subluxation of the spine is a diagnostic x-ray test covered if ordered, taken, and interpreted by a physician who is a doctor of medicine or osteopathy.
Effective for claims with dates of service on or after January 1, 2000, an x-ray is not required to demonstrate the subluxation. However, an x-ray may be used for this purpose if the chiropractor so chooses.
The word "correction" may be used in lieu of "treatment." Also, a number of different terms composed of the following words may be used to describe manual manipulation as defined above:
- Spine or spinal adjustment by manual means;
- Spine or spinal manipulation;
- Manual adjustment; and
- Vertebral manipulation or adjustment.
In any case in which the term(s) used to describe the service performed suggests that it may not have been treatment by means of manual manipulation, the carrier analyst refers the claim for professional review and interpretation.
Subluxation is defined as a motion segment, in which alignment, movement integrity, and/or physiological function of the spine are altered although contact between joint surfaces remains intact.
A subluxation may be demonstrated by an x-ray or by physical examination, as described below.
1. Demonstrated by X-Ray
An x-ray may be used to document subluxation. The x-ray must have been taken at a time reasonably proximate to the initiation of a course of treatment. Unless more specific x-ray evidence is warranted, an x-ray is considered reasonably proximate if it was taken no more than 12 months prior to or 3 months following the initiation of a course of chiropractic treatment. In certain cases of chronic subluxation (e.g., scoliosis), an older x-ray may be accepted provided the beneficiary's health record indicates the condition has existed longer than 12 months and there is a reasonable basis for concluding that the condition is permanent. A previous CT scan and/or MRI is acceptable evidence if a subluxation of the spine is demonstrated.
2. Demonstrated by Physical Examination
Evaluation of musculoskeletal/nervous system to identify:
- Pain/tenderness evaluated in terms of location, quality, and intensity;
- Asymmetry/misalignment identified on a sectional or segmental level;
- Range of motion abnormality (changes in active, passive, and accessory joint movements resulting in an increase or a decrease of sectional or segmental mobility); and
- Tissue, tone changes in the characteristics of contiguous, or associated soft tissues, including skin, fascia, muscle, and ligament.
To demonstrate a subluxation based on physical examination, two of the four criteria mentioned under "physical examination" are required, one of which must be asymmetry/misalignment or range of motion abnormality.
The history recorded in the patient record should include the following:
- Symptoms causing patient to seek treatment;
- Family history if relevant;
- Past health history (general health, prior illness, injuries, or hospitalizations; medications; surgical history);
- Mechanism of trauma;
- Quality and character of symptoms/problem;
- Onset, duration, intensity, frequency, location and radiation of symptoms;
- Aggravating or relieving factors; and
- Prior interventions, treatments, medications, secondary complaints.
A - Documentation Requirements: Initial Visit
The following documentation requirements apply whether the subluxation is demonstrated by x-ray or by physical examination:
1. History as stated above.
2. Description of the present illness including:
- Mechanism of trauma;
- Quality and character of symptoms/problem;
- Onset, duration, intensity, frequency, location, and radiation of symptoms;
- Aggravating or relieving factors;
- Prior interventions, treatments, medications, secondary complaints; and
- Symptoms causing patient to seek treatment.
These symptoms must bear a direct relationship to the level of subluxation. The symptoms should refer to the spine (spondyle or vertebral), muscle (myo),bone (osseo or osteo), rib (costo or costal) and joint (arthro)and be reported as pain (algia), inflammation (itis), or as signs such as swelling, spasticity, etc. Vertebral pinching of spinal nerves may cause headaches, arm, shoulder, and hand problems as well as leg and foot pains and numbness. Rib and rib/chest pains are also recognized symptoms, but in general other symptoms must relate to the spine as such. The subluxation must be causal, i.e., the symptoms must be related to the level of the subluxation that has been cited. A statement on a claim that there is "pain" is insufficient. The location of pain must be described and whether the particular vertebra listed is capable of producing pain in the area determined.
3. Evaluation of musculoskeletal/nervous system through physical examination.
4. Diagnosis: The primary diagnosis must be subluxation, including the level of subluxation, either so stated or identified by a term descriptive of subluxation. Such terms may refer either to the condition of the spinal joint involved or to the direction of position assumed by the particular bone named.
5. Treatment Plan: The treatment plan should include the following:
- Recommended level of care (duration and frequency of visits);
- Specific treatment goals; and
- Objective measures to evaluate treatment effectiveness.
6. Date of the initial treatment.
B - Documentation Requirements: Subsequent Visits
The following documentation requirements apply whether the subluxation is demonstrated by x-ray or by physical examination:
1. History
- Review of chief complaint;
- Changes since last visit;
- System review if relevant.
2. Physical exam
- Exam of area of spine involved in diagnosis;
- Assessment of change in patient condition since last visit;
- Evaluation of treatment effectiveness.
3. Documentation of treatment given on day of visit.
The patient must have a significant health problem in the form of a neuromusculoskeletal condition necessitating treatment, and the manipulative services rendered must have a direct therapeutic relationship to the patient's condition and provide reasonable expectation of recovery or improvement of function. The patient must have a subluxation of the spine demonstrated by x-ray or physical exam as described above.
Most spinal joint problems may be categorized as follows:
1. Acute subluxation: A patient's condition is considered acute when the patient is being treated for a new injury, identified by x-ray or physical exam as specified above. The result of chiropractic manipulation is expected to be an improvement in, or arrest of progression,of the patient's condition.
2. Chronic subluxation: A patient's condition is considered chronic when it is not expected to significantly improve or be resolved with further treatment (as in the case with an acute condition), but where the continued therapy can be expected to result in some functional improvement. Once the clinical status has remained stable for a given condition, without expectation of additional objective clinical improvements, further manipulative treatment is considered maintenance therapy and is not covered.
For Medicare purposes, a chiropractor must place an AT modifier on a claim when providing active/corrective treatment to treat acute or chronic subluxation. However the presence of the AT modifier may not in all instances indicate that the service is reasonable and necessary. As always, contractors may deny, if appropriate, after medical review.
3. Maintenance therapy: Maintenance therapy includes services that seek to prevent disease, promote health and prolong and enhance the quality of life, or maintain or prevent deterioration of a chronic condition. When further clinical improvement cannot reasonably be expected from continuous ongoing care, and the chiropractic treatment becomes supportive rather than corrective in nature, the treatment is then considered maintenance therapy. The AT modifier must not be placed on the claim when maintenance therapy has been provided. Claims without the AT modifier will be considered as maintenance therapy and denied. Chiropractors who give or receive from beneficiaries an ABN shall follow the instructions in Pub. 100-04, Medicare Claims Processing Manual, Chapter 23, section 20.9.1.1 and include a GA (or in rare instances a GZ) modifier on the claim.
Maintenance therapy is not a covered benefit.
4. Exacerbations: An exacerbation is a temporary marked deterioration of the patient's condition due to flare-up of the condition being treated. This must be documented on the claim form and must be documented in the patient's clinical record, including the date of occurrence, nature of the onset or other pertinent factors that will support the reasonableness and necessity of treatments for this condition.
5. Recurrence: A recurrence is a return of symptoms of a previously treated condition that has been quiescent for 30 or more days. This may require the reinstitution of therapy.
6. Contraindications: Dynamic thrust is the therapeutic force or maneuver delivered by the physician during manipulation in the anatomic region of involvement.
A relative contraindication is a condition that adds significant risk of injury to the patient from dynamic thrust, but does not rule out the use of dynamic thrust. The doctor should discuss this risk with the patient and record this in the chart. The following are relative contraindications to dynamic thrust:
● Articular hypermobility and circumstances where the stability of the joint is uncertain;
●Severe demineralization of bone;
● Benign bone tumors (spine);
● Bleeding disorders and anticoagulant therapy; and
● Radiculopathy with progressive neurological signs.
Dynamic thrust is absolutely contraindicated near the site of demonstrated subluxation and proposed manipulation in the following:
● Acute arthropathies characterized by acute inflammation and ligamentous laxity and anatomic subluxation or dislocation; including acute rheumatoid arthritis and ankylosing spondylitis;
● Acute fractures and dislocations or healed fractures and dislocations with signs of instability;
● An unstable odontoideum;
● Malignancies that involve the vertebral column;
● Infection of bones or joints of the vertebral column;
● Signs and symptoms of myelopathy or cauda equina syndrome;
● For cervical spinal manipulations, vertebrobasilar insufficiency syndrome; and
● A significant major artery aneurysm near the proposed manipulation.
Location of Subluxation:
The precise level of the subluxation must be specified by the chiropractor to substantiate a claim for manipulation of the spine. This designation is made in relation to the part of the spine in which the subluxation is identified:
Area of Spine - Names of Vertebrae - Number of Vertebrae - Short Form or Other Name
Neck - Occiput (Occ, CO), Cervical (C1 thru C7), Atlas (C1), Axis (C2) - 7
Back - Dorsal (D1 thru D12) or Thoracic (T1 thru T12) or Costovertebral (R1 thru R12) or Costotransverse (R1 thru R12) - 12
Low Back - Lumbar (L1 thru L5) - 5
Pelvis - Iiii, r and l (I, Si)
Sacral - Sacrum, Coccyx, S, SC
In addition to the vertebrae and pelvic bones listed, the Ilii (R and L) are included with the sacrum as an area where a condition may occur which would be appropriate for chiropractic manipulative treatment.
There are two ways in which the level of the subluxation may be specified:
- The exact bones may be listed, for example: C5, C6, etc.
- The area may suffice if it implies only certain bones such as: Occipito-atlantal (occiput and C1 (atlas)),
lumbo-sacral (L5 and Sacrum), sacro-iliac (sacrum and ilium).
Following are some common examples of acceptable descriptive terms for the nature of the abnormalities:
- Off-centered
- Misalignment
- Malpositioning
- Spacing - abnormal, altered, decreased, increased
- Incomplete dislocation
- Rotation
- Listhesis - antero, postero, retro, lateral, spondylo
- Motion - limited, lost, restricted, flexion, extension, hypermobility, hypomotility, aberrant
Other terms may be used. If they are understood clearly to refer to bone or joint space or position (or motion) changes of vertebral elements, they are acceptable.
Treatment Parameters
The chiropractor should be afforded the opportunity to effect improvement or arrest or retard deterioration in such condition within a reasonable and generally predictable period of time. Acute subluxation (e.g., strains or sprains) problems may require as many as three months of treatment but some require very little treatment. In the first several days, treatment may be quite frequent but decreasing in frequency with time or as improvement is obtained.
Chronic spinal joint condition implies, of course, the condition has existed for a longer period of time and that, in all probability, the involved joints have already "set" and fibrotic tissue has developed. This condition may require a longer treatment time, but not with higher frequency.
Some chiropractors have been identified as using an "intensive care" concept of treatment. Under this approach multiple daily visits (as many as four or five in a single day) are given in the office or clinic and so-called room or ward fees are charged since the patient is confined to bed usually for the day. The room or ward fees are not covered and reimbursement under Medicare will be limited to not more than one treatment per day.
Compliance with the provisions in this policy is subject to monitoring by post payment data analysis and subsequent medical review.
