TY  - JOUR
T1  - The Rising Incidence of Acromioplasty
AU  - Vitale, Mark A.
AU  - Levine, William N.
Y1  - 2011/02/16
N1  - 
JO  - The Journal of Bone & Joint Surgery
SP  - e12 6
EP  - 6
VL  - 93
IS  - 4
N2  - 
We commend Dr. Schneider for his thoughtful review of our manuscript and careful consideration of factors that may contribute to the increasing frequency and population-based incidence of acromioplasty procedures over the past decade as documented independently by both CPT codes (in the ABOS database) and ICD-9 procedure codes (in the SPARCS database). Dr. Schneider points out that while the incidence of coding of acromioplasty by ICD-9 procedure and CPT codes has increased, this may not necessarily reflect a true increase in the incidence of the procedure over this period. Other reasons to explain the increased coding include the so-called unbundling of procedure codes for shoulder surgery, the increasing pressures for coding documentation by the ABOS, and a growing financial incentive to bill for multiple codes, given decreasing reimbursements from insurers.

SN  - 0021-9355
M3  - doi: 
UR  - http://dx.doi.org/
ER  -