CMS developed the National Correct Coding Initiative (NCCI) to promote national correct coding and to control
improper coding that leads to inappropriate payments for Part B claims. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid
Services (CMS) owns the NCCI program and is responsible for all decisions regarding its contents. CMS
developed its coding policies based on coding conventions defined in the American Medical Association's
CPT® Manual, national and local policies and edits, coding guidelines
developed by national societies, analysis of standard medical and surgical practices, and a review of
current coding practices. CMS annually updates the National Correct Coding Initiative
Coding Policy Manual for Medicare Services (Coding Policy Manual). The Coding Policy Manual should
be utilized by carriers and FIs (Fiscal Intermediary) as a general reference tool that explains the
rationale for NCCI edits.
The purpose of the NCCI Procedure-to-Procedure (PTP) edits is to prevent improper payment when incorrect code
combinations are reported. The NCCI contains one table of edits for physicians/practitioners and one table
of edits for outpatient hospital services. The Column One/Column Two Correct Coding Edits table and the
Mutually Exclusive Edits table have been combined into one table and include PTP code pairs that should not
be reported together for a number of reasons explained in the Coding Policy Manual. The purpose of the NCCI
MUE program is to prevent improper payments when services are reported with incorrect units of service.
Add-On code edits identify codes that are only used as an additional code. If the Add-On code is used
without the primary code an edit notice is triggered.
Find-A-Code's NCCI Edits Validator tool compares CPT/HCPCS using the NCCI PTP Edits. To use this
calculator...
Calculate and view the NCCI Edit for Facilities for comprehensive, component and mutually exclusive codes. View code incompatibilities.
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DISCLAIMER: Our edits are taken directly from published government sources.
CMS has the right to change NCCI edits retroactively. If you do not agree with any of these edits, or find a
problem with any of them, please contact the applicable government agency or Medicare Administrative Contractor
(MAC). Find-A-Code strives to provide the most current information
but assumes no responsibility for the consequences attributable to or related to any use or interpretation
of the information presented here. Absolute accuracy cannot be guaranteed.