Anesthesia Coding Alert
Reporting Bilateral Ablations
Vermont Subscriber
Answer: Your pain specialist injected four levels bilaterally (L3, L4, L5 and S1), for a total of eight destructive procedures. Report 64622 (Destruction by neurolytic agent, paravertebral facet joint nerve; lumbar or sacral, single level) for the first level, and append modifier 50 (Bilateral procedure). Then submit +64623 (... lumbar or sacral, each additional level [list separately in addition to code for primary procedure]) with modifier 50 for each of the three remaining levels.
Note: Double-check your carriers' computer capabilities before submitting the claim. Depending on how they process multiple units of add-on codes (such as 64623), you might need to report each level individually instead of listing the code once and designating three units for it.
Anesthesia Coding Alert
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- You Be the Coder:
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Question: How should I code bilateral ablations of the paravertebral facet joint at L3 through [...] - READER QUESTIONS:
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