Neurosurgery Coding Alert

What is an EMG? Your provider will do an electromyogram (EMG) to measure the electrical activity n muscles. As a part of the procedure, your provider may do an EMG with muscles at rest as well as in activity.

Why EMG? According to Marcella Bucknam, CPC, CPC-I, CCS-P, CPC-H, CCS, CPC-P, COBGC, CCC, internal audit manager with Peace Health in Vancouver, Wash., the most common EMG scenario in many practices is testing for carpel tunnel syndrome (CTS). However, Bucknam reports that the provider might also use EMGs to help diagnose or determine the appropriate treatment for herniated discs, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), myasthenia gravis (MG), weakness, paralysis, or muscle twitching.

Look for more: While this is not a definitive list, you should be on the lookout for a possible EMG if the physician is testing for one of the above conditions.

Note: Nerve conduction studies (NCS) are different. During an NCS, your provider measures the electrical activity in a nerve. NCS is done in nerves that supply a muscle to assess of the nervous signals to the muscles are adequate.

“These [NCS] are commonly performed to evaluate for carpal tunnel syndrome or ulnar neuropathy. Some insurers will not reimburse for nerve conduction study alone without EMG, except for a limited number of conditions,” says Gregory Przybylski, MD, director of neurosurgery at the New Jersey Neuroscience Institute, JFK Medical Center in Edison.