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Procedure Adjudication

Overview

Automated claim validation for medical necessity, billing compliance, and frequency limits.

The Procedure Adjudication API serves as an intelligent, real-time gatekeeper for medical claims. It automatically evaluates procedure codes (CPT/CDT) against patient diagnoses (ICD-10) and historical data to ensure clinical accuracy and billing compliance.

By integrating this API, organizations can prevent denials, ensure medical necessity, and adhere to strict coding standards before a claim ever reaches a payer.

Use Cases

Data Sources

We ground our adjudication logic in industry-standard and authoritative sources:

CMS NCCI

The gold standard for bundling edits (PTP) and frequency limits (MUE).

ICD-10-CM & CPT

Official coding manuals, guidelines, and relationship mappings.

Clinical Policy

Rules derived from standard medical policies (LCD/NCD) and literature.


Violation Types

We categorize claim issues into specific rule types. The API response returns these codes, allowing your system to route errors to the correct workflow.

1. Medical Necessity (PLE)

PLE

Medical Necessity

This check validates the clinical relationship between the diagnosis and the procedure. It answers: "Is this procedure medically justified by this condition?"

  • Description: Procedure not justified by diagnoses.
  • Example Scenario: A provider bills for a Chest X-Ray but the only diagnosis on the claim is Foot Pain.
{
  "rule": "PLE",
  "level": "critical",
  "description": "Procedure not justified by diagnoses",
  "cpts": ["71045"],
  "detail": "Procedure 71045 is not justified by the provided diagnoses",
  "ref_ids": ["claim-line-1"]
}

2. Frequency Limits (MUE)

Medically Unlikely Edits (MUE) prevent over-billing by enforcing quantity limits based on anatomical or policy maximums.

Daily Limits (MUE1)

MUE1

Daily Limits

Flags claims where the units of service exceed what is allowed for a single date of service.

  • Description: Procedure quantity exceeds daily limit.
  • Example Scenario: Billing 3 units of an Appendectomy (which can only happen once).
{
  "rule": "MUE1",
  "level": "critical",
  "description": "Procedure quantity exceeds daily limit",
  "cpts": ["44950"],
  "detail": "Total quantity of 3 exceeds limit of 1",
  "ref_ids": ["claim-line-2"]
}

Cross-Claim Daily Limits (MUE2)

MUE2

Cross-Claim Daily Limits

Similar to MUE1, but also considers previous procedures from older claims in the patient's history.

  • Description: Procedure quantity exceeds daily limit when considering current claim and historical claims.
  • Requirements: You must provide the history array in the request for this check to function.
  • Note: Procedures with no date provided will be skipped for this check.
{
  "rule": "MUE2",
  "level": "critical",
  "description": "Procedure quantity exceeds daily limit when considering current claim and historical claims",
  "cpts": ["44950"],
  "detail": "Total quantity of 2 (claim: 1, history: 1) exceeds limit of 1"
}

3. Bundling Integrity (PTP)

Procedure-to-Procedure (PTP) edits identify pairs of codes that should not be reported together. These rules, enforced by the National Correct Coding Initiative (NCCI), prevent improper payments by defining when a service is considered "integral" to or "mutually exclusive" with another more comprehensive service performed at the same site.

Key Principles

  • Mutually Exclusive: Procedures that achieve the same result or are clinically impossible to perform together.
  • Integral Procedures: A "separate procedure" or superficial service that is included in a more complex surgical procedure.
  • Comprehensive vs. Component: Identifies when a specific service is deemed a component of a larger procedure. The component code is typically denied when billed alongside the comprehensive code.

Hard Stops (PTP0)

PTP0

Hard Stops

Codes that are mutually exclusive and can never be reported together on the same date of service.

  • Description: Procedures cannot be billed together (modifier not allowed).
  • Action: One of the codes must be removed.
{
  "rule": "PTP0",
  "level": "critical",
  "description": "Procedures cannot be billed together (modifier not allowed)",
  "cpts": ["99215", "99205"],
  "detail": "Procedures 99215 and 99205 can not be performed together on the same date of service",
  "ref_ids": ["claim-line-3", "claim-line-4"]
}

Soft Stops (PTP1)

PTP1

Soft Stops

Codes that are typically bundled but may be allowed if performed on separate anatomical sites or distinct sessions, usually requiring a specific modifier (e.g., -59, -25).

  • Description: Procedures cannot be billed together (modifier allowed with documentation).
  • Action: Review documentation. If appropriate, apply a modifier to bypass the edit.
{
  "rule": "PTP1",
  "level": "warning",
  "description": "Procedures cannot be billed together (modifier allowed with documentation)",
  "cpts": ["17000", "17003"],
  "detail": "Procedures 17000 and 17003 can not be performed together on the same date of service, except with valid documentation"
}

Missing Dates (Info)

PTP

Potential Conflicts

When procedure dates are missing, the API cannot definitively confirm a PTP violation. These potential conflicts are flagged as info alerts.

  • Reason: One or more procedures in the pair lack a date of service.
  • Action: Check dates to confirm if the services were performed on the same day.
{
  "rule": "PTP0",
  "level": "info",
  "description": "Procedures cannot be billed together (modifier not allowed)",
  "cpts": ["99215", "99205"],
  "detail": "Procedures 99215 and 99205 would not be accepted if performed on the same date",
  "ref_ids": ["claim-line-3", "claim-line-4"]
}

Criticality & Workflows

We categorize every violation into a severity level. This allows you to filter noise and route issues to the right person.

Critical

Denial Risk: High

Fundamental errors that will cause claim rejection. These require clinical review.

Target audience:

PhysiciansMedical DirectorsMedical Coders

Warning

Compliance Alert

Potential issues that may be valid with proper documentation or modifiers.

Target audience:

Medical CodersBillers

Info

Informational

Suggestions and informational alerts that do not affect claim validity but may improve accuracy.

Target audience:

All Users

Endpoint

POST /adjudicate

Data Requirements

To maximize adjudication accuracy, ensure your request includes:

  • Procedures: The CPT / CDT codes, dates, and units for the current claim.
  • Diagnoses: The ICD-10-CM codes justifying the procedures.
  • History: A list of past procedures. This is critical for MUE2 (cross-claim daily limit) checks. Without history, the API cannot detect if a patient has previously received procedures that would exceed daily limits when combined with the current claim.

Configuration

You can fine-tune the strictness of the API using the config object in your request.

Filter by Level

Control which violations are returned based on their severity. This is useful if you want to build different views for different users (e.g., showing only Critical errors to a physician).

LevelEffect
infoReturns ALL violations (Critical + Warning + Info).
warningDefault. Returns Critical and Warning violations.
criticalReturns ONLY Critical violations. Hides coder-level warnings (like PTP1) and info alerts.

Request Example:

{
  "procedures": [...],
  "diagnoses": [...],
  "config": {
    "level": "critical"
  }
}

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