tci Outpatient Facility Coding Alert - 2014 Issue 11

Reader Question: Know the Joint the Physician Treated

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.  ...

To read the full article, sign in and subscribe to tci Outpatient Facility Coding Alert.


TCI's Outpatient Facility Coding Alert helps your facility stay profitable by covering issues that are important to you — everything from billing strategies and appropriate payment indicators to coding tips and tricks, analysis of industry trends, and so much more. Subscribe today and let our experts make your job easier.

  • Current newsletters added each month
  • Fully searchable archives - over 650 articles
  • ALL years/issues back to 2012 organized by year and issue
  • Codes mentioned in articles are linked to Code Information pages
  • Code Information pages link back to related articles

This feature is currently unavailable for online purchase. For more information, please call 801-770-4203 or Contact Us.

demo
request yours today
 subscribe
start today
 newsletter
free subscription

Thank you for choosing Find-A-Code, please Sign In to remove ads.