Denial Code CO 50 indicates that the payer declined to pay the claim because the service or operation was not considered medically essential. It is a prevalent rejection code, accounting for the sixth most common cause of Medicare claim denials.
According to the CMS, 30 percent of claims are either refused, lost, or disregarded. Claim denials harm the revenue cycle and are a substantial issue for hospitals in an already tough reimbursement market.
You should be aware that each payer’s medical necessity policy differs widely and constantly evolves. Furthermore, various payers have to vary “medical necessity” standards.
It is important to remember that, while Medicare and the American Medical Association (AMA) serve as the framework for the recommendations, each state has its medical necessity standards. As a result, understanding the medical necessity is critical.
What is the Medical Necessity of the CO 50 denial code?
According to the American Medical Association (AMA), medical necessity requires the delivery of healthcare to a patient that a doctor or other healthcare professional would provide to a patient if exercising sensible clinical judgment for the goal of avoiding, analyzing, diagnosing, or treating a disease, harm, illness, or its symptoms.
Aside from the preceding, Medicaid and commercial insurance payers have particular requirements for medically required materials, treatments, and services found in payer payment policies or clinical recommendations. However, there may be several typical reasons why a claim from the payer is disallowed under CO 50.
Common Reasons for Code CO 50 Denial
- Based on the linked LCD, the item billed may necessitate a unique diagnostic or modifier code.
- A development letter asking for further information to substantiate billed services was not received within the specified time frame.
- The billed item is not medically necessary.
- The period of stay authorized by the payer for hospital services has been exceeded.
- According to the insurance contracts maintained by a practice, “medical necessity” denial may need training doing a range of actions.
Let’s take a closer look at each task:
Strategies to avoid medical necessity denial prevention
Look for pre-approval and insurance coverage
Your front office personnel should verify patients’ insurance coverage and approval for office visits and procedures. This initial review will eliminate 50% of your claim denials while saving you time and money.
Make yourself an advocate for your patient
The simple meaning of the above line is that you should educate your patient on the therapies. Allow patients to understand the rationale for the product or service they will be getting. If the claim is refused in the future, these educated patients will assist physicians.
Skilled Coding Team
CO 50 claim denials result from an incorrect diagnostic code for the operation. These denials can be reversed, but the procedure requires a significant amount of time and resources. Insurance companies use codes to assess whether or not services are “medically required.”
Having a knowledgeable and professional coding team on payer rules, agreements, local coverage determination (LCD), national coverage determination (NCD) codes, and thorough documentation from the medical team can help reduce rejections.
To prevent a claim denial based on “medical necessity,” the practitioner must undertake various obligations. There should be effective communication between billing personnel and clinical staff to comprehend the processes and insurance contract rules that the practice provides for its patients.
You now understand what denial code CO 50 is and what to do if it occurs. Do you still have any misgivings? We can assist you since we are a team of skilled billing and coding specialists dedicated to improving practice efficiency and income.
About us
Billing Executive – a Medical Billing and Coding Knowledge Base for Physicians, Office staff, Medical Billers and Coders, including resources pertaining to HCPCS Codes, CPT Codes, ICD-10 billing codes, Modifiers, POS Codes, Revenue Codes, Billing Errors, Denials and Rejections.
We have more than 10 years experience in US Medical Billing and hand-on experience in Web Management, SEO, Content Marketing & Business Development with Research as a special forte.
Learn More
90838 CPT CODE: KNOW YOUR CODES