ICD-9 Coding Tool for Hand, Wrist Fractures

Posted on 31. Jul, 2009 by .

Here’s how to differentiate the tiquetrum from the trapezium.

Orthopedic surgeons dealing with hand procedures don’t only treat dislocations — they also treat fractures, and it’s up to you to link the correct diagnosis to the upper-extremity fracture repair code.

Use the anatomic drawing here to locate the site that your surgeon addressed, and match that to the sampling of applicable ICD-9 codes in the chart at the bottom of this page.

Your hand surgery claims will come out picture-perfect, and denial-free. 

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PRC Coding: Put Your Finger on Proximal Row Bones

Posted on 20. Jul, 2009 by .

Question: Our surgeon performed a proximal row carpectomy (PRC) and circled code 25215. That code refers to all the bones in the proximal row, though, and he only dictated working on four bones. Aren’t there five bones in the proximal row?

Answer: Your physician circled the correct code if he addressed the scaphoid, lunate, triquetrum, and pisiform bones. These four bones make up the proximal row of the patient’s hand.

If the physician documented carpectomies of these bones, you should report 25215 (Carpectomy; all bones of proximal row). If he did not refer to all four of these, you may want to consider reporting 25210 (… one bone) instead. You can report additional units of 25210 if he documented carpectomies of more than one bone.

Note: The surgeon may remove just part of the scaphoid rather than the entire bone, but this should not change your code choice.

Tackle late effects with these E-code musts. All this and more in Lynn Anderanin’s Orthopedic Op Note Makeover AUDIO.

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