# Cortisone injections and Medicare - patient? 20610-CPT



## kdahlen (Mar 2, 2009)

can anyone tell me if Medicare limits the # of injections you can give a patient? 20610-CPT usually in the same location
Thanks
Kathy-Idaho


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## astephens (Mar 3, 2009)

as far as I have seen it pays one per joint, so if the physician injects the shoulder, the hip and the knee the same day you are allowed to bill for 20610 x 3 with the appropiate modifiers.  any other thoughts out there?


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## Bella Cullen (Mar 5, 2009)

I would agree with Angelica, if there were 1 or more separate locations then I would say to bill it more than once with appropriate modifiers, and different diagnoses. But from what I've been told if patient is in global then you can NOT bill out 20610-58 to Medicare if injection is done in the same location as what it is in global to. All other ins carriers you can, just not Medicare.


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## kdahlen (Mar 5, 2009)

Guess what I was asking is if you can give one than one injections in a matter of 30 days etc. Is there a time limit on how often patients can get an cortisone injection in the same location
Thanks
Kathy


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## Bella Cullen (Mar 6, 2009)

There is not a time limit as far as I know. Any other opinions out there?


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## mksmith713 (Mar 10, 2009)

I think what she's asking is if there's a maximum number of injection you can give to any ONE joint on a specific patient, i.e, can you inject a right knee 15 times over a lifetime?

From a clinical standpoint, it's not recommended.
From a Medicare payers standpoint,....I have no idea if they'll continue to pay or not.


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