AAPC member Mary LeGrand, RN, MA, CPC, CCS-P, provides orthopaedic specialists advice on injection coding in AAOS — the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons’ online newsletter.

In the article, which details the complicated coding of injections, she says:

“Remember that common injections administered by orthopaedists from the musculoskeletal section of the American Medical Association’s 2009 Current Procedural Terminology (CPT®) are considered ‘surgical’ injections. This means that reimbursement for these services includes the following:

• any type of local anesthesia, including hematoma blocks
• the E&M service, if it is not a significant, separate service”

She provides the codes most commonly used for injections and some case studies to help identify injections and when an injection can be coded with an aspiration. Read the full article on the AAOS Web site.

One Response to “Take the Sting Out of Injection Coding”

1. Angela Dixson Says:
   December 7th, 2009 at 9:37 am

   I wanted to see if anyone has the updated codes for Facet Joint Injections? I have not gotten my 2010 CPT coding guide book yet but have gotten an email from Medicare of Georgia stating that the CPT codes for Facets will change in 2010, one of the changes being that the 77003 fluoro code is being bundled into the facet codes and will not longer be reimbursed seperately but did not mention any other changes. Does anyone know if the codes for the actual injections are changing and if so to what?

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