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New 2021 Evaluation and Management Code Guidelines
November 12, 2020 Question: I heard that the E/M code guidelines are changing in 2021. Will this apply to all…
ICP Monitor and EVD Placed on Both Sides
October 29, 2020 Question: We placed an ICP monitor on the left side of the cranium and a right ventriculostomy,…
Elective Cranioplasty after Emergent Hemicraniectomy
October 15, 2020 Question: I did an emergency craniectomy on a stroke patient 4 months ago. It is now time…
Post-Op Anterior Cervical Wound Abscess
October 1, 2020 Question: How do I code for repair of wound dehiscence with deep abscess status post ACDF (anterior…
New 2021 E/M Coding Guidelines
September 17, 2020 Question: I just signed up for your 2021 E/M webinar – I’m so excited! Will these changes…
Evaluation and Management Codes 2021 - Do I Have to Use the Revised Guidelines?
September 3, 2020 Question: I work with a neurosurgeon and we don’t see many Medicare patients. The neurosurgeon believes the…
VP Shunt Re-programming During a Global Period
August 20, 2020 Question: What if we have to re-program a VP shunt during the global period because the settings…
Spine Fracture Repair and Decompression
August 6, 2020 Question: How do I code for repair of a C6-7 fracture/dislocation where I did a laminectomy for…
Removal of a Hemorrhagic Tumor
July 23, 2020 Question: I did a craniotomy for removal of a tumor but it had a hemorrhagic component to…
Removal of sEEG Electrodes
July 9, 2020 Question: I placed subdural stereo-EEG electrodes for epilepsy monitoring. What is the code for removal of these…
“Counting” Levels for Posterior Spinal Instrumentation
June 25, 2020 Question: When placing pedicle screws, do I bill per pedicle screw or per level? For example, pedicle…
Bilateral Posterolateral Fusion
June 11, 2020 Question: I did a posterior lumbar fusion bilaterally. Can I bill 22612 with modifier 50 for bilateral…
Repair of a Semi-Circular Canal Dehiscence with ENT
May 28, 2020 Question: We are doing a combined case with ENT and are not sure how to code it.…
Billing Additional Pre-op Visit
May 14, 2020 Question: Since we have to bring the patients back in for COVID testing and H&P for Joint Commission,…
Billing Telephone Calls Longer than 30 Minutes
April 30, 2020 Question: We cannot locate a response from any reliable coding resource about how to bill telephone calls…
Provider Remote Working from Home
April 16, 2020 Question: If the provider is working remotely from home (temporarily), what would the place of service (POS)…
Waiving Medicare Cost-share for Telehealth Visits
April 2, 2020 Question: I heard that Medicare patients don’t have to pay their deductible or coinsurance if they have…
Are Pre-Op Visits Billable?
March 19, 2020 Question: For patients that are having surgery that day, I’ve been doing pre-op visits that morning (coming…
Overreading a Diagnostic Imaging Study
March 5, 2020 Question: I sent a patient out to the hospital for a CT scan and the patient brought…
Placement of Cervical Collar after Cervical Spine Surgery
February 20, 2020 Question: A couple of doctors asked me if they can bill for the cervical collar at the…
Intraoperative ICG Dye Angiography
February 6, 2020 Question: Can we bill the 92242 for the indocyanine green video angiography we do with the pterional…
Modifier XU with a Programming Code and Battery Change Code
January 23, 2020 Question: Our Medicare specialist has advised us to add modifier XU (modifier 59) to CPT code 95970…
Use of Cross Links with Posterior Instrumentation
January 9, 2020 Question: We have a new physician who has joined our practice and is documenting use of cross…
Diagnosis Code for “End of Life” DBS Battery
December 19, 2019 Question: What would be the appropriate diagnosis code (ICD-10-CM) for “end of life battery” when we have…
VP Shunt Reprogramming
December 5, 2019 Question: We had a patient show up in our office, after an MRI ordered by another physician,…
Shunt Revision
November 14, 2019 Question: I had to replace the ventricular catheter and the valve on a patient with a VP…
Augmentation of Pedicle Screws
October 31, 2019 Question: I injected cement into the pedicles to augment screws in a patient with osteoporosis. My coder…
T9-11 Epidural Tumor Removal
October 17, 2019 Question: I did bilateral laminectomies at T9, T10, T11 and removed an epidural tumor. I billed 63276-50,…
Artificial Cervical Disc Placement
October 3, 2019 Question: We are just starting to do these procedures and I want to get our coding sorted…
Intraoperative Testing of the IPG
September 19, 2019 Question: Can I code 95971 for intraoperative testing of the implantable pulse generator (IPG) when the spinal…
Articles
Prior Authorization Chaos is the New Normal for Spine Surgery
ORTHOWORLD – December 11, 2019 In 2017, the American Medical Association surveyed physicians across all specialties about the amount of…
Stay Current with Spine Procedural Coding
AAPC News – May 2017 by Kim Pollock, RN, MBA, CPC, CMDP See how spine procedure codes, guidelines, and reporting have…
2017 Spine CPT Code Changes
AAOS Now – November 2016 by Kim Pollock, RN, MBA, CPC, CMDP Spine surgeons face a multitude of Current Procedural…
Spine Practices May Lose Money When They Do Not Bill for Consults
Healio- October 2016 by Kim Pollock, RN, MBA, CPC, CMDP and Teri Romano, BSN, MBA, CPC, CMDP Medicare eliminated payment…
Spine Surgery Quandary: Posterior Lumbar Interbody Fusion
Healthcare Business Monthly – June 2016 by Kim Pollock, RN, MBA, CPC, CMDP When do you bill 63056-59 with 22633,…
Follow an eight-step formula for correct spine coding
Spine Surgery Today, September/October 2014 Teri Romano, BSN, MBA, CPC, CMDP, and Kim Pollock, RN, MBA, CPC Reporting the “just…
Follow an Eight-Step Formula for Correct Spine Coding
Follow an Eight-Step Formula for Correct Spine Coding – September/October 2014 by Teri Romano, BSN, MBA, CPC, CMDP and Kim Pollock,…
Procedure Coding Made Simple: Five Principles Will Help You Capture Appropriate Charges for Spine Surgeries
Procedure Coding Made Simple: Five Principles Will Help You Capture Appropriate Charges for Spine Surgeries – September 2013 by Kim Pollock, RN,…
Coding For Same Day Anterior-Posterior Spine Procedures: Four Myths Clarified
Coding For Same Day Anterior-Posterior Spine Procedures: Four Myths Clarified – November / December 2012 by Kim Pollock, RN, MBA, CPC, CMDP…
