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Most of the fracture cases are coded in emergency department (ED) facility, hence it is important to understand the different scenarios that a coder come across for these fracture care. Scenario 1 A patient presents to the ED after falling and fracturing his tibia. The emergency physician calls an orthopedic surgeon for a … Read more
Basics of CPT code 27405, 27407 and 27409 A surgical reconstruction means that the remnant of the torn ACL/PCL is removed, and a new ligament is created with tissue from elsewhere in the body or donated from a cadaveric donor. ACL/PCL reconstruction surgery has been very successful, but there are concerns that it may not … Read more
Basics of Rotator cuff CPT code CPT code 23410, 23412, 23420 and 29827 The rotator cuff is a group of muscles in the shoulder that allow a wide range of movement while maintaining the stability of the glenohumeral joint. The rotator cuff includes the following muscles: Subscapularis Infraspinatus Teres minor Supraspinatus A helpful mnemonic to … Read more
Basics of CPT code 23105 & 23106 Definitions: Arthroscopy: Use of an endoscope to examine the interior of a joint (diagnostic) or to perform surgery on joint structures (therapeutic) Arthrotomy: Surgical incision into a joint that may include exploration, drainage, or removal of a foreign body Synovectomy: Removal of the synovial membrane lining of … Read more
Basics of Lateral Extracavitary Approach (LECA) Spinal exam The lateral extracavitary approach (LECA) requires resection of the ribs, pleura and/or peritoneum and dissection of spinal/paraspinal tissues to access the vertebral bodies/disc. The advantage of this technique is that it provides the surgeon with access to both the posterior and lateral aspects of the spinal canal … Read more
Being a surgery coder, I have almost coded most of the procedure codes in the surgery facility. To be frank, I have made lot of coding errors in surgery. Mistakes makes us to learn new things, but we should not repeat those mistakes again. In coding as well, we should always learn from our coding … Read more
Basics about Induced Abortion We have learnt already about the spontaneous abortion, now we will learn about induced abortion. Therapeutic and elective abortions may be classified as induced abortions. Therapeutic abortion is the termination of pregnancy before the time of fetal viability for medical indications. Elective abortion is the interruption of pregnancy before viability at … Read more
Neoplasm ICD 10 codes have to be used very carefully. Cancer conditions can be partially or fully present or removed from the body, hence the ICD 10 codes will also vary as per the scenario. For example, the personal history code for neoplasm should be used only when the neoplasm has been completely removed from … Read more
Description of CPT code 15771, 15772, 15773 and 15774 Autologous fat grafting may be utilized in many areas of soft tissue augmentation or reconstruction, including congenital defects, contouring of face or breasts, and scarring as a result of burns, radiation, surgical procedures, or trauma. The physician obtains an autologous fat graft by liposuction technique. After … Read more
Basics of Bariatric Surgery CPT codes 43770-43775 Bariatric Surgery codes 43770-43775 also report procedures performed for gastric restrictive procedures that are accomplished by placing a restrictive device around the stomach to decrease its functional size. Code 43770 reports “placement of adjustable gastric restrictive device (e.g., gastric band and subcutaneous port components)” . The band is … Read more