# Need help with strappings and splintings for rural hospital



## gladiator0011 (Aug 3, 2009)

ok this is a two part question....

i'm helping out a rural hospital and trying to help them out by providing rules and coding guidelines.  
First, they are using slings, post op boots, and air casts as a way to charge strappings in the ER.  I was pretty much always taught those are ways to get the E&M to a higher lvl and air casts were no longer allowed to be coded as a splinting/strapping.  I also had documentation to this way back in the day but can't find this now.  Can anyone provide a link for me so I can give to this rural hospital as proof? Or maybe i'm just totally wrong and you can code all those as strappings now but I haven't at all on the east coast....

Second, i've always coded knee immobilizers as a long leg splint but here they are coding it as a knee strapping.....any thoughts and if so any documentation that i can use?

thanks in advance@


----------



## eadun2000 (Oct 23, 2009)

knee immobilizers are 29505... not strapping.. that is like using an ACE bandage.
Air Cast can be charged with 29515.. you can code 29540 for a Jones wrap for strapping.


----------



## LTibbetts (Oct 30, 2009)

Try the AAOS website and also look at their archives. The ACEP (American College of Emergency Physicians) website is extremely helpful with this subject as well. They have some great stuff! Also, if you can take some time for research, there is always the CMS website. A lot of the insurance carriers set their standards by CMS' guidelines these days. 

I work at a critical access hospital in rural Maine. Here we code for the splinting and we also code for airsplints but we do not code for the knee immobilizers. It is believed to be covered by the E/M. It may be different elsewhere. Hope this helps some....


----------

