Key facts for NCD 250.2
- Benefit category
- Diagnostic Tests (other)
- Effective date
- This is a longstanding national coverage determination. The effective date of this version has not been posted.
- Transmittal
- n/a
- Versions published
- 1
- Manual chapter
- 250
- NCD Manual (Pub. 100-03)
TL;DR
NCD 250.2 sets Medicare's national policy for hemorheograph under the benefit category "Diagnostic Tests (other)", effective This is a longstanding national coverage determination. The effective date of this version has not been posted.. Program payment may be made only for those services employing the hemorheograph which are performed for preoperative and postoperative diagnostic evaluation of suspected peripheral artery disease. It has been revised once since publication and binds every Medicare Administrative Contractor nationally.
Item or service described
The hemorheograph is a diagnostic instrument which is safe and effective for determining the adequacy of skin perfusion prior to the performance of minor surgical procedures on the extremities, including minor podiatric procedures, and as an adjunct to the evaluation of patients suspected of having peripheral vascular disease.
Indications and limitations of coverage
Program payment may be made only for those services employing the hemorheograph which are performed for preoperative and postoperative diagnostic evaluation of suspected peripheral artery disease.
NOTE: This instrument is not a plethysmograph and is not considered as such. A plethysmograph measures and records changes in the size of a body part as modified by the circulation of blood in that part. The hemorheograph, on the other hand, measures surface blood flow in the skin; it does not measure total blood flow in a digit or limb.
Text reproduced from the CMS Medicare Coverage Database record for NCD 250.2 version 1. View the original on cms.gov.
How this NCD shows up on remittances
A service denied under a National Coverage Determination returns CARC 50 (not deemed medically necessary) with remark N386 (decision based on an NCD); a denial citing a local policy instead carries N115. Because NCDs bind nationally, the appeal path is documentation that the patient meets the indications above, not a contractor-policy argument.
How QuickIntell applies NCD 250.2
QuickAuth checks the ordered service and diagnosis against NCD and LCD criteria before the encounter, QuickCode validates the diagnosis pairing on the claim, and QuickRCM routes CARC 50 denials with the policy text and the covered-code list attached so the appeal starts with evidence.
Frequently asked questions — NCD 250.2
What does NCD 250.2 cover?
Program payment may be made only for those services employing the hemorheograph which are performed for preoperative and postoperative diagnostic evaluation of suspected peripheral artery disease. The full indications and limitations are reproduced on this page from the CMS Medicare Coverage Database.
When did NCD 250.2 take effect?
The current version (1) is effective This is a longstanding national coverage determination. The effective date of this version has not been posted.. This is the only published version.
Does a Local Coverage Determination override NCD 250.2?
No. A National Coverage Determination binds all Medicare Administrative Contractors; an LCD can only address services or circumstances the NCD leaves open. Claims denied under this NCD typically return CARC 50 with remark N386 (NCD) rather than N115 (LCD).
Sources
Every figure on this page is taken from the CMS publications below, as released by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. Projection built 2026-10-02. Verify against the primary file before billing or contracting decisions.
- Medicare Coverage Database NCDs via the CMS Coverage APIVersion API snapshot 2026-09-27 · effective 2026-09-20 · file national-coverage-ncd.jsonSHA-256 a90fadfd264b9ef4…
Disclaimer
This page reproduces the CMS National Coverage Determination text and, for laboratory NCDs, the CMS ICD-10 edit lists, as an operational reference. Coverage decisions depend on the full policy, the claim and the contractor; nothing here is legal, clinical or billing advice. CPT codes are shown as numbers only; CPT descriptors are copyright AMA.