Neurosurgery Coding Alert

Your denials can be cut, thanks to this easy tip. Just because your neurosurgeon's documentation shows he repeatedly stimulated a single nerve during neuromuscular junction (NMJ) testing doesn't mean you report multiple codes. Comb through the chart for separate and distinct nerves -- not the number of stimulations performed on each nerve -- for the most compliant coding every time. Single Code Helps Simplify Things Physicians rely on repetitive stimulation studies to identify and differentiate disorders of the NMJ, such as myasthenia gravis (358.00, Myasthenia gravis without [acute] exacerbation; or 358.01, Myasthenia gravis with acute exacerbation). When your physician completes NMJ testing, you report 95937 (Neuromuscular junction testing [repetitive stimulation, paired stimuli], each nerve, any 1 method). That's simple enough, but the term "each nerve" in the descriptor trips up some coders when they're faced with multiple stimulations. Tip: Submit 95937 as a single line item with the total number of separate [...]