Orthopedic Coding Alert

Warning: Depending on how many x-rays you write off, you could be losing thousands.Myth: X-rays that you shoot or interpret during the global period are not billable to Medicare because payers include these charges in the surgical package.Reality: Practices that don't bill their x-ray charges are throwing away thousands of dollars in rightful reimbursement.Scenario: An established patient reports to your office with pain, swelling, and tenderness of the left wrist and forearm. The physician diagnoses the patient with a buckle fracture of the wrist, which he stabilizes with a splint before sending the patient home. The patient returns four weeks later and the physician takes two follow-up x-rays of the patient's forearm.Bill Those Follow-Up X-RaysThe challenge: You should report fracture care (25600, Closed treatment of distal radial fracture [e.g., Colles or Smith type] or epiphyseal separation, includes closed treatment of fracture of ulnar styloid, when performed; without manipulation) and any x-rays performed [...]