Muscoskeletal System and Coding

Muscoskeletal system is a body system that is composed of two parts: the muscular
and skeletal system. The muscular system includes all types of muscles in the body whose
contraction and relaxation causes body movements and tendons which attach the body’s
muscles to the bones (Gropp & Boyle, 2017). The second component of the muscoskeletal
system is the skeletal system. This system is primarily composed of bones which connect to
each other via joints thus providing the body with strong and mobile skeleton (Gropp &
Boyle, 2017). The muscoskeletal system performs a number of functions in the body. They
include providing support and stability (Gropp & Boyle, 2017). The system also causes body
movements and is the primary determiner of a body’s shape.

It is important for healthcare coders and billers to have deep knowledge of the body’s
muscoskeletal system. Such knowledge helps them to accurately enter codes that are
applicable to specific treatments, diagnoses, and procedures of the muscoskeletal system.
Since the codes are used for billing which healthcare managers use to obtain insurance
reimbursement, assigning precises codes to diagnoses, treatments, and procedures of the
muscoskeletal system ensures that healthcare organizations receive accurate reimbursement
for the services that they provide to patients.

There are a number of ways that knowledge of the anatomy and physiology of the
muscoskeletal system helps a coder to make precise codes. For instance, the ICD-10
procedure codes have several terms that relate to muscoskeletal system. They include 0M,
0Q, and 0P which stand for bursae and ligaments, lower bones, and upper bones respectively.
Having knowledge of the musculoskeletal system’s anatomy prevents one from confusing
these codes with similar ones from different body systems.

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References

Gropp, K. E., & Boyle, M. C. (2017). A Brief Overview of the STP 36th Annual Symposium:
Musculoskeletal System. Toxicologic pathology, 45(7), 838-843.