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Orthopedic Coding Alert

Coding Strategies:

Part 1: Step Up Your Hip Replacement Claims Accuracy With These Tips

Published on Sun Jan 16, 2011

Additional procedures that you report determine your reimbursement.A simple hip replacement may look easy to report, but there could be hidden factors such as additional procedures bundled in the hip replacement code(s) that could complicate your code selection. Read on to know what to report and what to not report when you're coding hip replacements. (Watch for Part 2 in the next Orthopedic Coding Alert where we'll cover other hip replacement coding challenges, including grafts, femoral blocks, and resurfacing.)Look For the Component ReplacedThe first thing you should look for when reporting the hip replacements is what component of the hip your surgeon is replacing or revising. Your surgeon may replace the femoral head or both the femoral head and the acetabulum. When only the femoral head is being replaced with stem insertion, you report a hemiarthroplasty with 27125 (Hemiarthroplasty, hip, partial [eg, femoral stem prosthesis, bipolar arthroplasty]). When your surgeon [...]
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