Subject(s)
Foot Deformities, Acquired/prevention & control , Foot Dermatoses/therapy , Keratosis/therapy , Nail Diseases/therapy , Cooperative Behavior , Fee Schedules , Foot Deformities, Acquired/economics , Foot Deformities, Acquired/etiology , Foot Dermatoses/diagnosis , Foot Dermatoses/economics , Foot Dermatoses/etiology , Germany , Humans , Interdisciplinary Communication , Keratosis/diagnosis , Keratosis/economics , Keratosis/etiology , Nail Diseases/diagnosis , Nail Diseases/economics , Nail Diseases/etiology , Nails, Malformed/diagnosis , Nails, Malformed/economics , Nails, Malformed/etiology , Nails, Malformed/therapy , National Health Programs/economics , Podiatry , Reimbursement Mechanisms/economics , ShoesABSTRACT
Six hundred twenty-nine Medicare patients were evaluated for the presence of onychauxic toenails that in the judgment of the examiners required reduction. Forty-two percent of this group had five or fewer toenails requiring reduction and 24.3% had six or more toenails requiring reduction. Statistics reported by a regional Medicare-contracted carrier for the years 1997 to 1999 showed that 95% of claims submitted for nail debridement were for six or more nails and 5% were for five or fewer nails. The 1999 Medicare Part B data listed the top 300 Current Procedural Terminology (CPT) foot-care codes in order of utilization. Code 11721 (debridement of six or more nails) was number one. National statistics from the Health Care Financing Administration in 1999 indicated approximately a 5:1 ratio in favor of CPT code 11721 (six or more nails). In contrast, this study found a ratio of 2:1 in favor of CPT code 11720 (five or fewer nails).