Orthopedic Coding Alert
Reader Question ~ Look to 64470 for Facet Block
Question: Our physician administered a facet block via the patient's medial branch nerves, above and below the C4-C5 facet. He used fluoroscopic guidance. How should I code this?
Arizona Subscriber
Answer: If the physician only treated one nerve, report 64470 (Injection, anesthetic agent and/or steroid, paravertebral facet joint or facet joint nerve; cervical or thoracic, single level). If he treated additional nerves, report +64472 (- cervical or thoracic, each additional level [list separately in addition to code for primary procedure]) for each of the other injections.
Some carriers (such as Medicare and Blue Cross/Blue Shield) consider fluoroscopic guidance part of the procedure. If your carrier allows you to report the fluoroscopic guidance separately, submit 76005 (Fluoroscopic guidance and localization of needle or catheter tip for spine or paraspinous diagnostic or therapeutic injection procedures [epidural, transforaminal epidural, subarachnoid, paravertebral facet joint, paravertebral facet joint nerve or sacroiliac joint], including neurolytic agent destruction).
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