Getting a jump on 1/1/2009 changes is critical, and we recognize how important it is to have information as soon as possible.  We've gotten a number of inquiries from clients about when the 2009 updates will be available.  We will post as quickly as possible after the official Addendum A & B files are published by CMS.

CMS is delayed in releasing the official 1/1/2009 Addendum A & B Files (we're watching this page: http://www.cms.hhs.gov/HospitalOutpatientPPS/AU/list.asp).  Some pre-release information is available, so here are some tips to work on 2009 changes while we all wait for this critical update:

• The 2009 HCPCS & CPT(R) Pre-release codebook is in the Codebooks libraries on each RRS and Coding Suite product.  This has a change/update report and the available 2009 info has been added to each code details page.
• The 2009 Hospital Outpatient PPS and Physician Fee Schedule Final Rules have been converted to E-Book format for easy browsing and searching.  You can find these in the PPS or Coding Guidance libraries, or pretty simply by searching the entire product for CMS-1404-FC (for OPPS) or CMS-1403-FC (for PFS).  (Each search will take you to the title page of the rule, click on the contents button at the top to see the entire book.)
• The above Final Rules contain FR versions of Addendum A & B.  There is a zip file that contains XLS or CSV versions of the Addendum A & B.  It has been our experience that this file has signifcant differences from the official published versions, but this will give you an opportunity to see where CMS is headed with the new codes.
• The January 2009 IOCE Addendum B, which details changes to HCPCS and APC edits is available.  You can use this to get a heads up on what we'd expect to see in the official Addendum A & B, and also to see the logic for some changed APC logic discussed in the Final and Proposed rule.  You can find the link to the PDF version of this file by searching the product for the phrase "OCE Quarterly Release Specifications", or checking the recent What's New report. (The IOCE collection is in the Coding Guidance library.)