Wiki Pelvis xrays for knee pain

LANGLEY

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Are there any orthopaedic offices that are doing pelvis xrays when the patient presents for knee pain? If so, what type of diagnoses are you using since the carriers are looking for hip pain, but the physician is just ruling out any hip issues for the knee pain?
 
Are there any orthopaedic offices that are doing pelvis xrays when the patient presents for knee pain? If so, what type of diagnoses are you using since the carriers are looking for hip pain, but the physician is just ruling out any hip issues for the knee pain?

have you already been denied for this ?

I would bill it out - watch how/if they pay/deny

I bill neck xrays with shoulder pain dx - lumbar xrys with leg pain dx - never had a problem getting them paid (mostly never)

just make sure documentation is good - they are looking for source of pain
 
No haven't been denied. but our computer system has some edits in place, and it warns us all the time if we put leg pain on a pelvis xray.
 
FYI from the aspect of "education," pain originating from a hip joint disorder can present as "knee pain." More often the patient will complain of "thigh and knee pain" in these circumstances, and may not relate/connect their problem to the hip, and may not complain of "hip pain." It is a "referred pain" situation, i.e., the pain originates in one place (in this case the hip), but is felt somewhere else (the knee). But, I would be skeptical of getting hip X-rays as a "routine" for all patients who come in complaining of "knee pain." This would be a bit of a stretch. In order to justify getting hip X-rays on a patient complaining of knee pain, the physician would have to document historical &/or physical findings to indicate the there is good reason to believe that there is a problem at the hip. The physician would then have to provide a "provisional" diagnosis for the hip that would warrant the hip X-rays. It goes to Medical Necessity.

Respectfully submitted, Alan Pechacek, M.D.
icd10orthocoder.com
 
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