by Find-A-Code™
Jan 4th, 2018
According to CGS Administrators, traction is generally limited to the cervical or lumbar spine with the expectation of relieving pain in or originating from those areas.
Specific indications for the use of mechanical traction include cervical and/or lumbar radiculopathy and back disorders such as disc herniation, lumbago, and sciatica.
This modality is typically used in conjunction with therapeutic procedures - not as an isolated treatment.
Documentation should support the medical necessity of continued traction treatment in the clinic for greater than 12 visits. For cervical conditions, treatment beyond one month can usually be accomplished by self-administered mechanical traction in the home. The time devoted to patient education related to the use of home traction should be billed under 97012.
Only 1 unit of CPT code 97012 is generally covered per date of service.
Equipment and tables utilizing roller systems are not considered true mechanical traction. Services using this type of equipment are non-covered.
Non-Surgical Spinal Decompression Non-surgical spinal decompression is performed for symptomatic relief of pain associated with lumbar disk problems. The treatment combines pelvic and/or cervical traction connected to a special table that permits the traction application. There is insufficient scientific data to support the benefits of this technique. Therefore, non-surgical spinal decompression is not covered by Medicare (CMS Publication 100-03, Medicare National Coverage Determinations (NCD) Manual: Section 160.16). Examples of this type of non-covered procedure include, but are not limited to, VAX-D™, DRX-3000, DRX9000, Decompression Reduction Stabilization (DRS) System, IDD, MedX., Spina System, Accua-Spina System, SpineMED Decompression Table, Lordex Traction Unit, Triton DTS, and Z-Grav. If billed for purpose of receiving a denial, these services should be billed using CPT code 97039 and not with CPT 97012.