Coding and Reimbursement

The Coding FAQs and OnDemand Educational Courses are supported through an educational grant provided by CVRx.

Your Coding Resources

Visit this page to access the latest resources for vascular surgery coding and reimbursement. 

Frequently Asked Coding Questions 

Coding is a complicated aspect of all medical fields. To help vascular surgery professionals better understand the ins and outs of coding, the SVS will be posting frequently asked questions (FAQs) and their answers.

Access the FAQs here

Coding On-demand Educational Courses 

The SVS and KZA consultants, a firm that specializes in coding and documentation education, are working together to provide on-demand coding courses for members of the vascular surgery field.  

Interested in learning more? Click the link below to see the details of our first on-demand course, titled “Surgical Modifiers in Vascular Surgery”.  

SVS On-demand Coding Course

Modifiers tell the payor what happened in a surgery and more importantly, impact reimbursement in different ways. Appending correct modifiers can make the difference between a quickly paid claim and one that languishes in your AR waiting for resubmission. Physician documentation must reflect what happened differently in a procedure to lead the code/biller to append the correct modifier. This course explains the most common modifiers and how they are used accurately in actual vascular surgery scenarios. 

Submit Your Coding Inquiries for Review

SVS Coding Committee

The SVS Coding Committee oversees SVS CPT, RUC and ICD coding activities, as well as:

  • Participates in RUC and CPT Editorial Panel meetings, representing the interests of vascular surgeons.
  • Comments on administrative actions such as NCCI edits, national and local coverage decisions.
  • Provides content and faculty for SVS education efforts on coding and reimbursement.
  • Reviews comments on regulatory issues before they are submitted to CMS.
  • Annually reviews coding section of VascularWeb and advise staff on content.

RVS Update Committee (RUC)

The RUC is a unique multispecialty committee dedicated to describing the resources required to provide physician services which the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) considers in developing Relative Value Units (RVUs). Although the RUC provides recommendations, CMS makes all final decisions about what Medicare payments will be.

Current Procedural Terminology (CPT)

The Current Procedural Terminology (CPT) codes offer doctors and health care professionals a uniform language for coding medical services and procedures to streamline reporting, increase accuracy and efficiency.

CPT codes are also used for administrative management purposes such as claims processing and developing guidelines for medical care review.