Neurosurgery Coding Alert

Learning your surgeon's punctuation preferences offers valuable clues. Navigating the anatomy and terminology of spinal procedures is a tricky path to tread on many fronts. If counting and calculating interspaces and segments has you mystified, read on for advice that will help your spinal claims stand tall. Verify Vertebral Terms Learning the difference between vertebral segments and interspaces stymies many coders. Follow this guide from the North American Spine Society "Common Coding Scenarios for Comprehensive Spine Care": • Vertebral segment describes the basic constituent part into which the spine may be divided. It represents a single complete vertebral bone with its associated articular processes and laminae. • Vertebral interspace describes the non-bony compartment between two adjacent bodies which contains the intervertebral disc and includes the nucleus pulposus, annulus fibrosus, and two cartilagenous end plates. Another clue: Anatomically, a single spinal nerve exists in the vertebral space between two vertebrae. For [...]