Independence has a variety of programs in place dedicated to ensuring claims are billed accurately and in accordance with industry standard coding principles, including:

• Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) standards such as the National Correct Coding Initiative (NCCI), modifier usage, and global surgery guidelines
• American Medical Association (AMA) Current Procedural Terminology (CPT^®) coding guidelines
• CMS HCPCS LEVEL II Manual coding guidelines
• ICD-10 Instruction Manual coding guidelines

In order to verify all providers are adhering to Independence’s claim payment policies and the industry standard source guidelines listed above, starting February 1, 2021, Independence’s Enhanced Claim Editor Program will include coding validation performed by a team of Registered Nurses and Certified Professional Coders from our contracted vendor that will review select professional and outpatient facility claims in conjunction with patient claim history.

Areas of focus

Independence's coding validation program will focus on:

• NCCI edits with modifier override allowed and an override modifier is on the claim line (excluding Modifier 25)
• AMA unbundling rules
• Multiple providers billing the same procedure, for the same member, on the same day

With the implementation of coding validation, claim lines found to be submitted with inappropriate coding may be denied. Providers will be notified via the Provider Explanation of Benefits (EOB) (professional) or Provider Remittance (facility), which will include a reason code for the claim line denial. This program should have little or no impact to billing practices for submission of claims that are in accordance with the guidelines listed above and national industry-accepted coding standards.

Identifying claims that went through the coding validator process

If your claim was affected by one of the coding validation reviews, the edit explanation will be displayed on your electronic remittance report (835) and/or paper Provider EOB or Provider Remittance. Unique alpha-numeric codes and messages have been created that begin with E819X. Should your claim line contain an E819X code/message, it means it was affected by the coding validation review. You can also find the E819X codes/messages on the Claim Status Inquiry Detail screen on the NaviNet^® web portal (NaviNet Open). To view, hover your mouse over the service line and select View Additional Detail. If you see an E819X code/message, the line went through coding validation. Only E8XXX codes/messages are part of the enhanced claim editor, which will include coding validation beginning February 1, 2021. All other codes/messages are unrelated to the enhanced claim editor.

Request for coding validator claim review

Claims affected by coding validation review will require the submission of clinical information in order to dispute the denial. Additional information about requesting a review of a claim and how to submit the necessary documentation will be provided in a future article.​​

For more information

For questions about the claim editing process, please review our Claim edit enhancements: Frequently asked questions (FAQ), which can also be found on the Independence NaviNet Open Plan Central page on the left-hand side by selecting Frequently Asked Questions archive. Note: The FAQ will be updated as more information becomes available.

If you still have questions after reviewing the FAQ, please send an email to claimeditquestions@ibx.com..

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