Outpatient Facility Coding Alert
Reader Question:
Know the Joint the Physician Treated
Published on Wed Nov 26, 2014 
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Question: How should I code tendon injections to both of the patient’s thumbs and both third digits during the same visit? She is a Medicare patient.
Montana Subscriber
Answer: The correct injection code is 20550 (Injections[s]; single tendon sheath, or ligament, aponeurosis [e.g., plantar “fascia”]), but you also need to specify which joints the physician treated to distinguish the injections from each other. The CMS–1500 form allows you to document specific joints in Box 19, and some coders say including the designations with the procedure code helps clarify the procedure.
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