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Orthopedic Coding Alert

Reader Questions:

Include Pain Pump in Global Fee

Published on Tue May 20, 2008

Question: How should I report pain pump application with a left shoulder arthroscopy? Minnesota Subscriber Answer: You shouldn't report pain pump application separately. Instead, you should consider it part of the global surgical fee. Watch out: Some coders report payment with codes such as 23929 (Unlisted procedure, shoulder) and 11981 (Insertion, non-biodegradable drug delivery implant), but just because you get paid doesn't mean you-re coding correctly. If the payer reviews your records, it may request the pain pump payment back.
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