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Basics of Joint replacement procedures Joint replacement procedure are very common in old age patient. With growing age the bone density decreases and hence joint problems increases. In most of the case joint replacement procedure help in treatment problems like arthritis, osteoarthritis etc. Medical coders has lot of confusion in coding joint replacement or arthroplasty … Read more
CPT Code tunneled catheter exchange Intro Insertion of a tube beneath the skin into the blood vessels to provide medication or nutrients to patients directly into the blood stream is termed as central venous access catheters (CVAC). The catheters are divided into temporary and permanent catheters. The temporary catheters are non-tunneled and permanent catheters are … Read more
What is Central Venous Catheter? For patients who are getting frequent injections or are under chemotherapy, the physicians recommends a central line or central venous catheter(CVCs) . CVCs are also called as venous access device. Central Venous catheter are inserted through the forearm or the chest and the tip of the catheter will lie close … Read more
For coding Vascular procedures, it is very important to understand the concept of vascular families. Vascular families are located in Appendix L in CPT codebook. Vascular family is made of branches of arteries arising from aorta. We have different vascular families from head to leg. You can refer the below image and know how they … Read more
In medical coding, we code all type of procedures. These procedures are simple, complex or look complex but are simple. Here, I would consider Central or PICC catheter placement procedures are complex but are very simple to code. I am just going to share my experience about coding these procedures and how to find a … Read more
Use of guidance is very common for performing any radiology diagnostic exam. Interventional radiology CPT codes are mostly accompanied by guidance CPT codes. Fluoroscopy, Ultrasound, Computed tomography, MRI guidance etc. are some of guidance used with diagnostic radiology CPT codes. Now, with the new updates every year these guidance are mostly bundled with the main … Read more
The long-term presence of access catheters in the vascular system may result in development of clot and/or fibrin within or around the catheter, causing the catheter to become non-functional. The most common complication of a semi-permanent CVC is the formation of a fibrin sheath at the tip of the catheter that causes obstruction or reduced … Read more
For coding Vascular procedures, it is very important to understand the concept of vascular families. Vascular families are located in Appendix L in CPT codebook. Vascular family is made of branches of arteries arising from aorta. We have different vascular families from head to leg. You can refer the below image and know how they … Read more
Basics-Chest X ray Post Central Line Placement We have already learned about the central line placement procedures. These procedures are commonly done for placing central venous catheters using temporary or permanent catheters. The code range varies for coding Tunneled and Non-Tunneled Central Venous Catheter (CVC) and Peripheral Central Venous Catheter (PICC) is from 36555-36571. In … Read more