Wiki 22551 and 63045

[aschaeve]

Does anyone know if you can bill both the 22551-Arthrodesis, anterior and 63045-Laminectomy-cervical together? There are no NCCI edits, however the 22551 includes disc preparation, is this the 63045?

Thanks,

Alicia

 

[ambernic]

Does anyone know if you can bill both the 22551-Arthrodesis, anterior and 63045-Laminectomy-cervical together? There are no NCCI edits, however the 22551 includes disc preparation, is this the 63045?

Thanks,

Alicia

Hi Alicia,

I believe these can be billed together. 63045 represents the additional work required to complete the decompression at the same spinal level that is beyond the preparation of the interspace for the fusion.

 

[seattlegrace]

Is it of concern that 22551 is an anterior approach code and 63045 is a posterior approach code? (The code descriptor does not state 63045 is posterior, but the code is located in the "posterior" section of codes.) It seems it would be inappropriate to report 63045 with 22551 unless the patient is flipped over and a posterior approach performed for the 63045. I'm open to additional thoughts.