Diagnosis coding corner: Don’t break down when you encounter nonunion diagnosis of the vertebra
A patient comes in for the first in a series of transforaminal epidural injections. The note states the patient’s pain is related to the nonunion of a stable burst fracture of the first lumbar vertebra. You quickly locate the correct diagnosis code, S32.011, but see it requires a seventh character to complete. Should you select A (initial encounter for closed fracture) or K (subsequent encounter, non-union)?
To read the full article, sign in and subscribe to the DecisionHealth Newsletters.
Official DecisionHealth® Newsletter Archives includes:
Includes over 25,000 articles from:
Coder Pink Sheets
Part B News
Answer Books newsletters
Current newsletters added each quarter
Timely news and guidance vital for your practice
Fully searchable through Find-A-Code's Comprehensive Search
Codes mentioned in articles are linked to the Find-A-Code Code Information pages
Code Information pages link back to related articles
Save yourself tons of research time, find everything in one place!
Access to this feature is available in the following products:
DecisionHealth Coding, Billing and Compliance Library