Orthopedic Coding Alert
Carpal Scaphoid
Vermont Subscriber
Answer: You can code for the graft separately, using 20900 (bone graft, any donor area; minor or small) or 20902 (... major or large) as long as the graft came from a distant site or separate incision.
Answers to Reader Questions and You Be the Coder provided by Terry Fletcher, BS, CPC, CCS-P, CCS, a healthcare coding consultant based in Laguna Beach, Calif., and Heidi Stout, CPC,CCS-P, coding and reimbursement manager at University Orthopedic Associates in New Brunswick, N.J.
Orthopedic Coding Alert
- Its Never Too Late To Learn Proper Diagnostic Information for Coding Late Effects
Coding for late effects of traumatic injuries is often poorly understood. When incomplete diagnostic information [...] - AMA/CPT Defines the Global Surgical Package
In a year that has seen the AMA move toward greater specificity in its codes [...] - You Be the Coder:
Fracture Coding
Test your coding knowledge. Determine how you would code this situation before looking at the [...] - Reader Question:
Impairment Rating
Question: What code should I use when the physician does an impairment rating?
Colorado Subscriber
Answer: [...] - Reader Question:
Component of THR
Question: An orthopedic surgeon performs a revision of the acetabular component of a total hip [...] - Reader Question:
Co-Surgeons
Question: One surgeon from our practice performed an open reduction with internal fixation of a [...] - Reader Question:
Arthroscopy Coding
Question: The operative report lists chondroplasty of the humeral head chondral fracture and removal of [...] - Reader Question:
Nerve Conduction Studies in Office
Question: We've started to perform nerve conduction studies (NCS) in our office. The equipment vendor [...] - Reader Question:
Return to the OR
Question: What diagnostic code do I use for the loss of reduction or fixation on [...] - Reader Question:
Pain Pump
Question: I have been using 37202 (transcatheter therapy, infusion other than for thrombolysis, any type [...] - Reader Question:
Marcaine Payment
Question: I am having difficulty getting paid for Marcaine. We use the unlisted HCPCS code [...] - Reader Question:
Billing for a Medicare Patient
Question: Should 20936 and 20937 be billed together with modifier -59? This is a Medicare [...] - Reader Question:
Closed Reduction for Multiple Fracture
Question: The physician performed a closed reduction of a fracture of both bones and a [...] - Reader Question:
Radiofrequency
Question: My physician performed an arthroscopic radiofrequency thermal debriding of unstable articular cartilage in all [...] - Reader Question:
Carpal Scaphoid
Question: My surgeon is performing a 25628 (open treatment of carpal scaphoid [navicular] fracture; with [...] - Reader Question:
Open Reduction
Question: My surgeon spent 10 to 15 minutes on a patient, attempting a closed reduction [...]
