Orthopedic Coding Alert
Follow the Patient's Fracture Care, Bill 26600
Question: We recently saw a patient for a metacarpal fracture. We examined the patient, took an x-ray and applied a splint. Can we report the fracture care code, or do we have to report an E/M code and the splinting code? You Be the Coder and Reader Questions were reviewed by Heidi Stout, CPC, CCS-P, coding and reimbursement manager at UMDNJ-RWJ University Orthopaedic Group in New Brunswick, N.J.; and Bill Mallon, MD, orthopedic surgeon and medical director at Triangle Orthopaedic Associates in Durham, N.C.
Kansas Subscriber
Answer: If your orthopedic surgeon plans to follow the patient during his healing phase, you can report 26600 (Closed treatment of metacarpal fracture, single; without manipulation, each bone).
But if the orthopedist splints the patient and does not plan to see the patient again for follow-up, you should simply report the appropriate E/M code (99201-99215) along with the splinting code, such as 29130 (Application of finger splint; static) or 29131 (... dynamic).
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