Coding Corner Question

Coding for a Scheduled Injection for Osteoarthritis

An established 58-year-old male patient comes in for a scheduled visit for his second shot in a series of four joint injections for his osteoarthritis of the knees.

The rheumatologist gives the patient a joint injection in his left knee using ultrasound guidance. He injects the patient with 20mg of Synvisc (hylan G-F 20).

How would you code this?

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The ICD-10 page on the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) website features a countdown clock that shows the time left until Oct. 1, 2015, the date on which compliance with the new code set becomes mandatory. By the time this issue goes to press, the clock will read 90 or fewer days. Time…

It’s time we changed our thinking on osteoarthritis

First Appearances I watched the old man, his back painfully bent, shuffle toward the scale. A blocky rigidity draped over him. His feet seemed stuck to the floor. His head hung heavily over his chest. Observing him from the end of the hallway, instead of a face, I saw only a mound of shaggy, matted…

For patients with hip osteoarthritis (OA), pain management and maintaining function are primary therapy goals. Current guidelines offer recommendations on nonpharmacologic and pharmacologic approaches to addressing these issues in hip OA. For patients in whom pharmacologic management is considered, the use of intra-articular steroid injections is one option. In its 2012 guidelines (the most current…

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