The American Board for Certification in Orthotics, Prosthetics and Pedorthics, Inc. (ABC) is proud to announce mostly positive changes to the Taxonomy Code from the National Uniform Claim Committee (NUCC). ABC requested changes to the existing code descriptions for orthotists, prosthetists, mastectomy and orthotic fitters in order to better reflect contemporary practice in these professions. ABC also launched the effort to establish a specific code for pedorthists, who previously did not have a taxonomy code. Through ABC’s efforts, these changes become effective October 1, 2010.
ABC disagrees with NUCC’s decision not to establish a specific taxonomy code for therapeutic shoe fitters and will resubmit its request at the earliest possible opportunity. Further, ABC will seek an appeal regarding the language include by NUCC in the orthotic fitter description as it inappropriately includes custom orthoses.
Taxonomy codes, also called Specialty Codes, are an administrative code set for identifying the provider type and area of specialization for health care providers. These codes are maintained by NUCC and selected by providers to indicate their specialty area of practice. Some payers are beginning to request a provider’s taxonomy code to identify their specialty designation/s during an enrollment process. As the move towards better utilization of electronic data exchange continues, taxonomy codes are now being linked within a provider’s enrollment or re-enrollment; including the process to obtain a National Provider Identifier through the National Plan & Provider Enumeration System.It should be noted that taxonomy codes are self selected and does not infer an expansion of an individual's ability to provide certain services. ABC believes that taxonomy codes should accurately reflect the nationally recognized scope of practice of credentialed and/or licensed individuals and, for the most part, these changes accomplish that goal.According to Cathy Carter, Executive Director of ABC, "ABC feels it is important to ensure that the taxonomy code descriptions are relevant to the contemporary practice in the profession. Plus, the fact that pedorthists did not have a code needed to be rectified. Requesting changes to the descriptions and obtaining a new pedorthist code involved a lengthy process but was something that ABC was absolutely committed to achieving."
Additional information and a complete listing of all taxonomy codes are available at the National Uniform Claim Committee.