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BLUECONNECT
Providers
March 2025
In This Issue
► March News: Executive Summary
► Coming soon: AZ Blue to adopt MCG 29th edition
► Send all disputes for CHS claims to the group's TPA
► Dental benefits for Medicare Advantage members
► Include these data elements for quick responses
Coming soon: AZ Blue to adopt MCG 29th edition
AZ Blue will begin using the 29th edition of the MCG care guidelines in June. Here are some of the changes you might notice:
Ambulatory Care Guidelines
A new Gene Therapy and Cellular Therapy Products guideline section will be added (includes 15 authorization guidelines).
The administration instruction footnotes will be removed from specific specialty medication guidelines.
Behavioral Health Care Guidelines
Guidelines for substance-related disorders will be updated to allow users to identify the American Society of Addiction Medicine (ASAM) Criteria® citations more easily within MCG content.
Benchmarks will be added for these guidelines:
• Applied Behavioral Analysis
• Neuropsychological Testing
• Psychological Testing
• Urine Toxicology Testing
General Recovery Care Guidelines
A new Hospital-at-Home General Recovery guideline will be added.
Inpatient & Surgical Care Guidelines
Five new observation care guidelines will be added.
A new mean arterial pressure (MAP) calculator will be added.
You can access the MCG care guidelines we use on the AZ Blue provider portal at “Practice Management > Medical Policies > AZ Blue Plans-MCG Care Guidelines.”
For more information about the 29th edition, please see MCG's March 4 press release.
In This Issue
► March News: Executive Summary
► Coming soon: AZ Blue to adopt MCG 29th edition
► Send all disputes for CHS claims to the group's TPA
► Dental benefits for Medicare Advantage members
► Include these data elements for quick responses
The MCG care guidelines are the proprietary and copyright-protected information of MCG Health, part of the Hearst Health network.

ASAM Criteria is a registered service mark of the American Society of Addiction Medicine.

Blue Cross, Blue Shield, the Cross and Shield Symbols, are registered service marks of the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association, an association of independent Blue Cross and Blue Shield Plans.

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