Difference between "Diagnostic" and "Therapeutic" Injections

Are you aware of the difference between 'diagnostic' and 'therapeutic' injections or nerve blocks? And how does the provider decide which to do?

Physicians use diagnostic nerve blocks to figure out the sources of the patient's pain. These blocks normally contain an anesthetic with a known duration of relief. Therapeutic nerve blocks cover local anesthetic to control acute pain, once the doctor corroborates the source and cause of discomfort. Most CPT section headings for injection or nerve block codes mention 'diagnostic or therapeutic'. Often the codes cover for both situations, meaning you could most likely report the same code for both diagnostic and therapeutic injections, based on the type of block and administration site.

Source URL :- http://www.supercoder.com/coding-newsletters/my-part-b-coding-alert/reader-questions-distinguish-diagnostic-from-therapeutic-nerve-block-103751-article

Here's an example:

A provider might inject an anesthetic and a steroid into a facet joint or a peripheral nerve to figure out whether that's the source of the patient's pain. A nerve block might be both diagnostic and therapeutic in that situation. However payers may want to know whether the block is diagnostic or therapeutic. Specifying such can be a criterion of coverage. Teach your physicians on the importance of documenting whether the patient gets a diagnostic or therapeutic block.

Bear in mind: Take a look at whether you may report radiological guidance separately or whether it is included. For instance, you shouldn't report imaging guidance with a code like 64490. According to the code definition, "with image guidance" and CPT guidelines before the code tell you that fluoroscopy and CPT guidance as well as contrast injections are included in 64490.