Neurosurgery Coding Alert

Identify primary procedure and bundles -- and watch the units you report.Reporting your surgeon's use of an operating microscope for microsurgical procedures can be challenging if you aren't clear on the intent and units of usage. And you could be leaving money on the table when you miss any accompanying procedures. Adopting these best practices can help you to file your claims with clarity and confidence. 1. Make Sure You Can Report +69990When your surgeon uses an operating microscope for a microsurgery procedure, you report +69990 (Microsurgical techniques, requiring use of operating microscope [list separately in addition to code for primary procedure]). Make sure your surgeon documents the need for the operating microscope for microsurgery or microdissection. You will not report +69990 if the only reason for use of the operating microscope was for illumination or for enhanced visualization using magnifying loupes or corrected vision. Your surgeon will clearly need to [...]