Neurology & Pain Management Coding Alert

Use these three strategies for clean injection codes. Chemodenervation denials can happen, even if you report the right codes for the drug and the injection. For example some payers might say that they only authorized the drug, but don't cover the injections. When your neurologist performs a chemodenervation injection procedure (64612-64614, Chemodenervation of muscle[s]), try to head off denials before they happen with these three simple strategies: Strategy 1: Educate yourself on your biggest payers' policies on chemodenervation codes. That way, when you need to contact a representative, you can speak about their policy with confidence and knowledge. Also, you can help educate your physician about the payer's expectations as to how and when these procedures should be performed. Strategy 2: Ask your neurologist to visually document and label where he placed the needles, especially if he performed the injections in the neck or face. This provides very clear documentation [...]