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Orthopedic Coding Alert

Coding Tips:

Don't Let Hand Drainage Procedures Drain Your Reimbursement

Published on Fri Jan 27, 2012

Coding key: Identify which structures are being drained.When your surgeon performs a drainage procedure on patient's hand, he may target different structures, as there are several points of collection of pus. You may need to report procedures like drainage of a finger abscess, tendon sheath, or palmar bursa. Read on for tips on identifying where in the hand your surgeon did the drainage and how you report it.Look For Diagnosis of Swollen Finger TipYour surgeon may drain a swollen and painful fingertip. This may be a felon, an abscess that forms along the volar surface in the finger tip. "A felon is a very serious infection of the volar surface of the distal finger tip and its associated soft tissues. An enclosed pocket of pus or infection develops and causes severe pain as it expands. Felons are usually caused by the bacterium Staphylococcus aureus," says Kristi Stumpf, MCS-P, CPC, COSC, [...]
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