Wiki documentation for 63047

peged

New
Messages
6
Best answers
0
I am grateful for help with this. I have a neurosurgeon that wants to bill L4-5 lumbar laminectomy (63047) with posterior lateral fusion (22612) with allograft (20930) for stenosis and spondylolisthesis. My question is does his documentation support 63047? We have had ongoing discussion about what is necessary to bill this code as the CPT descriptor states "laminectomy, facetectomy, and foraminotomy." "Soft tissues were cleaned off the lamina. A laminectomy was performed with drills and rongeurs. After the thecal sac and nerve root were decompressed the tube was angled laterally. The lateral aspect of the facet was identified and cleaned of soft tissues. It was decorticated. A small magna Fuse allograft was then packed over the lateral facet. The tube was placed back over the laminectomy defect and hemostasis was achieved. The tube was carefully withdrawn and hemostasis was achieved in the muscle layer." He also performed a procedure at a different spinal level and instrumentation was applied at the end of both procedures over the whole. Thanks again for any help!
 
Thank you for replying ,kelz0913. The diagnosis he gives is spondylolisthesis (which eliminates 63005 as an alternate), although, he does list stenosis and spondylolisthesis.
I appreciate your help!
 
Top