Is it nursing services and drug, biological , surgical dressing covered under ASC billing

Definitions of Included ASC Facility Services

Nursing Services, Services of Technical Personnel and Other Related Services

These include all services in connection with covered procedures furnished by nurses and technical personnel who are employees of the ASC. In addition to the nursing staff, this category includes orderlies, technical personnel and others involved in patient care.

Use of the ASC Facilities by the Patient

This category includes operating and recovery rooms, patient preparation areas, waiting rooms and other areas used by the patient or offered for use by the patient’s relatives in connection with surgical services.

Drugs, Biologicals, Surgical Dressings, Supplies, Splints, Casts, Appliances and Equipment

This category includes all supplies and equipment commonly furnished by the ASC in connection with surgical procedures. Drugs and biologicals are limited to those that cannot be self-administered. See the Medicare Benefit Policy Manual, Chapter 15, Section 50.2 (http://www.cms.hhs.gov/manuals/Downloads/bp102c15.pdf ), for a description of how to determine whether drugs can be self-administered.

Under Part B, coverage for surgical dressings is limited to primary dressings, i.e., therapeutic and protective coverings applied directly to lesions on the skin or on openings to the skin required as the result of surgical procedures. (Items such as Ace bandages, elastic stockings and support hose, Spence boots and other foot coverings, leotards, knee supports, surgical leggings, gauntlets and pressure garments for the arms and hands are used as secondary coverings and, therefore, are not covered as surgical dressings.) Although surgical dressings usually are covered as “incident to” a physician’s service in a physician’s office setting, in the ASC setting, such dressings are included in the facility’s services.

However, surgical dressings may be reapplied later by others, including the patient or a member of his family. When surgical dressings are obtained by the patient on a physician’s order from a supplier, e.g., a drugstore, the surgical dressing is covered under Part B. The same policy applies in the case of dressings obtained by the patient on a physician’s order following surgery in an ASC; the dressings are covered and paid as a Part B service by the Durable Medical Equipment Regional Contractor (DMERC) or Durable Medical Equipment Medicare Administrative Contractor (DME MAC).

Similarly, “other supplies, splints and casts” include only those furnished by the ASC at the time of the surgery. Additional covered supplies and materials furnished later are generally furnished as “incident to” a physician’s service, not as an ASC facility service. The term “supplies” includes those required for both the patient and ASC personnel, e.g., gowns, masks, drapes, hoses and scalpels, whether disposable or reusable. Payment for these is included in the rate for the surgical procedure.

Beginning January 1, 2008, the ASC facility payment for a surgical procedure includes payment for drugs and biologicals that are not usually self-administered and that are considered to be packaged into the payment for the surgical procedure under the OPPS.

Also, beginning January 1, 2008, Medicare makes separate payment to ASCs for drugs and biologicals that are furnished integral to an ASC-covered surgical procedure and that are separately payable under the OPPS.