Family Physicians, make note of a Medicare coding change: Effective Jan. 1, 2007, screening fecal occult blood tests must be billed with CPT code 82270.

At that time, the code currently used for billing this procedure, Healthcare Common Procedure System, or HCPCS, code G0107, will be retired. Claims for fecal occult blood tests not submitted with the newly assigned CPT code 82270 will be returned to the physician unprocessed.

Copyright 2006 American Academy of Family Physicians