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Orthopedic Coding Alert

Reader questions:

Verify 20693 or 20999 for Halo Vest Adjustment

Published on Thu May 27, 2010

Question: The orthopedic surgeon adjusted a misaligned halo vest under anesthesia. He later removed the painful halo vest and debrided pin sites for superficial pin site infection. How should we code these procedures? South Carolina SubscriberAnswer: You can report the halo adjustment with 20693 (Adjustment or revision of external fixation system requiring anesthesia [e.g., new pin{s} or wire{s} and/or new ring{s} or bar{s}]). If your surgeon doesn't believe 20693 is an accurate choice, submit 20999 (Unlisted procedure, musculoskeletal system, general) and compare to 20693 for RVU purposes (11.88 national RVUs for facility or non-facility).You can code the debridement separately with 11040 (Debridement; skin, partial thickness).
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