Clinical & Payment Policies

To easily search for a policy, use the Ctrl+F (Command+F on Mac) function on your keyboard to search by keyword, policy number or effective date.

What are Clinical Policies?

Clinical policies are one set of guidelines used to assist in administering health plan benefits, either by prior authorization or payment rules. They include, but are not limited to, policies relating to evolving medical technologies and procedures, as well as pharmacy policies.  Clinical policies help identify whether services are medically necessary based on information found in generally accepted standards of medical practice including peer-reviewed medical literature, government agency/program approval status, evidence-based guidelines, positions of leading national health professional organizations, views of physicians practicing in relevant clinical areas affected by the policy, and other available clinical information. 

All policies found in the Arkansas Health & Wellness Clinical Policy Manual apply to Arkansas Health & Wellness members. Policies in the Arkansas Health & Wellness Clinical Policy Manual may have either an Arkansas Health & Wellness or a “Centene” heading.  Arkansas Health & Wellness utilizes InterQual® criteria for those medical technologies, procedures, or pharmaceutical treatments for which a Arkansas Health & Wellness clinical policy does not exist.  InterQual is a nationally recognized evidence-based decision support tool.  You may access the InterQual® SmartSheet(s)™ for Adult and Pediatric procedures, durable medical equipment, and imaging procedures by logging into the secure provider portal or by calling Arkansas Health & Wellness at 1-877-617-0390.

In addition, Arkansas Health & Wellness may, from time to time, delegate utilization management of specific services; in such circumstances, the delegated vendor’s guidelines may also be used to support medical necessity and other coverage determinations. Other non-clinical policies (e.g., payment policies) or contract terms may further determine whether a technology, procedure, or treatment that is not addressed in the Clinical Policy Manuals or InterQual® criteria is payable by Arkansas Health & Wellness.

If you have any questions regarding these policies, please contact Member Services and ask to be directed to the Medical Management department.

What are Payment Policies?

Health care claims payment policies are guidelines used to assist in administering payment rules based on generally accepted principles of correct coding. They are used to help identify whether health care services are correctly coded for reimbursement.  Each payment rule is sourced by a generally accepted coding principle. They include, but are not limited to, claims processing guidelines referenced by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), Publication 100-04, Claims Processing Manual for physicians/non-physician practitioners, the CMS National Correct Coding Initiative policy manual (procedure-to-procedure coding combination edits and medically unlikely edits), Current Procedural Technology guidance published by the American Medical Association (AMA) for reporting medical procedures and services, health plan clinical policies based on the appropriateness of health care and medical necessity, and at times, state-specific claims reimbursement guidance.

All policies found in the Arkansas Health & Wellness Payment Policy Manual apply with respect to Arkansas Health & Wellness members. Policies in the Arkansas Health & Wellness Payment Policy Manual may have either an Arkansas Health & Wellness or a “Centene” heading.  In addition, Arkansas Health & Wellness may, from time-to-time, employ a vendor that applies payment policies to specific services; in such circumstances, the vendor’s guidelines may also be used to determine whether a service has been correctly coded. Other policies (e.g., clinical policies) or contract terms may further determine whether a technology, procedure or treatment that is not addressed in the Payment Policy Manual is payable by Arkansas Health & Wellness. 

Provider Notification

Ambetter from Arkansas Health and Wellness is amending or implementing new policies. Please see the table below for a list of these policies and their effective dates

Ambetter Policies

Ambetter from Arkansas Health and Wellness will be partnering with Evolent for prior authorization requests for the following services:

• Physical Therapy
• Occupational Therapy
• Speech Therapy
• Spinal Epidural Injections
• Paravertebral Facet Joint Injections or Blocks
• Paravertebral Facet Joint Denervation (Radiofrequency Neurolysis)
• Sacroiliac Joint Injections

Clinical Policies for these procedures can be found on the RadMD website.

Clinical Policies for CT/CTA/CCTA, MRI, MRA, and Pet Scans can also be found on the RadMD website.

Clinical policies for musculoskeletal procedures can be found on the TurningPoint website.

Wellcare by Allwell Policies