January 8, 2015

Question:

I just realized I may have been missing out on some revenue. My partner told me that he bills for placement of the patient in a head stabilization system on every case. I think he’s using CPT 20660. We are in an RVU compensation system, so capturing all CPT codes is important to me. Can I really bill for this?

Answer:

No. Placement of the patient in head stabilization (e.g., 20660) is included in all neurosurgery CPT codes/procedures because you are expected to do this for the patient. Obviously the bigger issue is whether your organization is billing 20660 on your partner’s claims and if he is getting RVU “credit” for this service. This is an issue that deserves further investigation. It would not be fair to you or the other partners if the one neurosurgeon is “getting credit” for this service while the others who are coding correctly are not.