Complete Newbie

[xLDRider51]

I am a Complete Newbie in this. After a couple (or maybe more) years of refusing, I finally assented to my wife's pleadings to go get a sleep study. Did it this past Thursday night. The folks at the Sleep Medicine center were great and I found that I actually was able to sleep far better than I assumed I'd be able to with all the leads and probes - maybe the fact that they let me sleep on my side helped a lot. The only hookups that bugged me at all were the two probes for nasal -vs- mouth breathing and I got used to even them quicker than I figured I would.

Anyway, the tech said that I did have some O2 decreases and blocked airway incidences in the latter part of my 8 hours of sleep there. I don't know what the count per hour was for either. I do know that for years I've had trouble with daytime sleepiness (not to the point of involuntarily falling asleep) to the point that given an opportunity I can take a nap almost on command and I've also had issues with a mild level of depression.

I'm assuming my Doc will prescibe CPAP therapy for me. If she's on the fence about it, I plan to try to push her toward it. Since this will require another sleep center visit to determine the correct air pressure for me, I'll get a chance to try out mask use. I think I'd prefer the nasal pillow route though.

My insurance pays for rental only up to the purchase price (then I guess I'd be on my own) or for purchase of the E0601?? dme plus K0193 and K0531 whatever the heck they are.

I don't know what the turnaround time is for the sleep center to get its report done and forwarded to my Doc and don't know how fast she'll call me back on it. Being completely ignorant about CPAP, I had no idea there are so many different possibilities. So in the coming days I'll be reading thru posts in this forum trying

Newbie Bob
xLDRider51

[Wulfman]

xLDRider51,

K0193 and K0531 are old codes. If you do a search on the Internet, you'll find some links to what they correspond to.......basically they're "E" numbers now.

Welcome to the forum.

Den

[Guest]

This is from the cpap.com:

What are the CPAP, BiPAP and Sleep Apnea related billing codes?

EO601 RR is CPAP rental.
E0601 NU is CPAP purchase.
A7034 is CPAP nasal mask, including all nasal masks, Nasal Aire, Breeze, Spiritus.
A7032 is CPAP nasal mask cushion.
A7030 is CPAP Full Face mask.
A7031 is CPAP Full Face mask cushion.
A7044 is CPAP Full Oral Interface.
A7046 is CPAP Humidifier Chamber.
A7037 is CPAP tubing, long and short hoses.
A7038 is CPAP disposable filter.
A7039 is CPAP gross particle (foam) filter.
A7035 is CPAP headgear.
A7033 is CPAP nasal pillows.
A7036 is CPAP chinstrap.
E0561 NU is CPAP Passover Humidifier
E0562 NU is CPAP Heated Humidifier
E0470 RR is BiPAP rental.
E0470 NU is BiPAP purchase.
E0471 RR is BiPAP-ST rental.
E0471 NU is BiPAP-ST purchase.
Other CPAP items are listed under E1399, which is miscellaneous.

[xLDRider51]

That's real interesting since my insurance carrier provided those numbers to me in a telephone conversation on Friday. Great to know that their documentation is up to date.

Bob
xLDRider51

xLDRider51,

K0193 and K0531 are old codes. If you do a search on the Internet, you'll find some links to what they correspond to.......basically they're "E" numbers now.

Welcome to the forum.

Den

[Wulfman]

That's real interesting since my insurance carrier provided those numbers to me in a telephone conversation on Friday. Great to know that their documentation is up to date.

Bob
xLDRider51

xLDRider51,

K0193 and K0531 are old codes. If you do a search on the Internet, you'll find some links to what they correspond to.......basically they're "E" numbers now.

Welcome to the forum.

Den

You wouldn't want to be dealing with people who are too far behind the times, would you?

The following is what I found on the Internet before I posted the last one.

"Codes K0193 & K0194 Deleted 8/3/99

Code K0193 (Continuous positive airway pressure [CPAP] device, with humidifier) is no longer valid for submission to the DMERC for dates of service on or after October 1, 1999. To bill for this combination device, use codes E0601 plus K0268 (humidifier, nonheated, used with positive airway pressure device)."

I mean, it's ONLY been since 1999.......maybe they're still stuck in a Y2K black hole of information......

Keep reading.

Best wishes,

Den

[Wulfman]

In all fairness (and full disclosure), I DID see in another place that the codes were changed as of January 2003.

Don't know WHICH is correct, but in any case, SOMEBODY'S a little behind the times.
(and APAPs don't exist or cost $3000 and the software costs $1200....YEAH, RIGHT!)

Den

[sykoeve]

Hi and welcome to this warm forum. I am fairly new myself and really like it here.