Outpatient Facility Coding Alert

Question: An orthopedic surgeon performed arthroscopic debridement and rotator cuff repair of the patient's shoulder joint. We'll be reporting 29826 and 29827. Surgical notes included the statements, "Very extensive debridement of the capsulitis/synovitis throughout the joint. Degenerative tearing of the anterior, superior and posterior labrum debrided." Is this sufficient documentation to also bill 29823?

Michigan Subscriber

Answer: Yes, you can also report 29823 (Arthroscopy, shoulder, surgical; debridement, extensive). You submit 29823 when the surgeon debrides both sections of the gleno-humeral joint (anterior and posterior) or any part of the gleno-humeral joint and the sub-acromial bursa.