Medically Necessary vs. Clinically Appropriate Because the spine functions as a unit in how it adapts – either positively or negatively – adjusting the full spine makes sense. Full spine adjusters know that addressing just the primary area of a patient’s complaint can be futile and may even extend the length of time it takes…
Coding Full Spine Adjustment
Primary vs. Compensatory Many Chiropractors practice full spine adjusting, or at minimum full spine evaluation. Others practice area specific adjusting according to complaint. Whichever way a doctor practices, they have reasoning for it, and it must be communicated in the documentation. A chosen chiropractic technique may require resolving/addressing areas of the body other than the…
CMT & E/M Coding
CMT & E/M Coding Expectations There are many occasions when it may be necessary to perform both an Evaluation and Management (E/M) service (9920X or 9921X) and a Chiropractic Manipulative Treatment (CMT) service on the same date. Such examples include: New patient visits Established patients with new conditions, new injuries, aggravations, or exacerbations Periodic re-evaluations…
The CMT Codes
Chiropractic Manipulative Treatment (CMT) Codes Chiropractic manipulative treatment (CMT) is a form of manual manipulation (adjustment) used to improve joint and neurophysiological function. It can be accomplished by a variety of techniques. The Doctor of Chiropractic (DC) selects the CMT code that best describes the manipulative treatment administered to the patient on the date of…
An Overview of CMT Coding
CMT Coding Expectations To set the stage for Chiropractic Manipulative Treatment (CMT) coding, we need to understand that these are procedurally encompassing codes for spinal and extraspinal areas for Chiropractors. Waters get muddied when doctors do not fully understand the scope of these codes, and then bill additional services that may be bundled into the…
AHIMA Standards of Ethical Coding
Reference Document Doctors sometimes claim they “did not know” they were supposed to, or not supposed to, do X or Y, and did not know they breached an ethical rule. Will this fall on a judge’s deaf ears? This reference document is from the very well recognized AHIMA (American Health Information Management Association). It contains…