Coders: Here Is Your 411 On Fhr

Know what FHR involves and when patients stand to benefit.

An initial FHR (femoral head resurfacing) procedure covers only the femoral head and not the acetabular socket of the hip joint. The surgeon mills the femoral head and implants a metal hemisphere over the bone that matches the size of the original femoral head to the hilt.

Femoral head resurfacing helps buy time for patients whose disease or degree of progression does not merit total hip replacement (27130, Arthroplasty, acetabular and proximal femoral prosthetic replacement [total hip arthroplasty], with or minus autograft or allograft).

Judy Larson, CPC, billing manager for Rockford Orthopedic Associates in Rockford, Ill, talks about a few benefits of selecting FHR:

# Patients are expected to recover a natural gait

# The larger size of the implant (ball) brings down the risk of dislocation

# The femoral head/canal is preserved

# There is no associated femoral bone loss with future revision

# Patients can experience less thigh pain as hip stress transfers in a natural way along the femoral canal and through the femurs head and neck.

The metal head used during FHR will wear out the socket over time, but; and the patient will require total hip replacement.

As soon as the patient reaches the point of total hip replacement, you will code the new procedure as a conversion with 27132 (Conversion of previous hip surgery to total hip arthroplasty, with or without autograft or allograft), according to Heidi Stout, CPC, CCS-P, director - orthopedic coding services at The Coding Network.

by: Nancy Rose

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