Knee injection HCPCS code

CMS finalizes its proposal to assign all hyaluronic acid-based knee injection treatments for osteoarthritis to a single HCPCS code, effective Jan. 1. The current two-code system differentiates between chemically altered and natural hyaluronate products. Genzyme's Synvisc falls under the former category and is currently paid more than its competitors. Johnson & Johnson/DePuy Mitek (Orthovisc), Sanofi-Aventis (Hyalgan) and Smith & Nephew (Supartz) have petitioned CMS to create distinct codes for their respective devices based on molecular weight (1"The Gray Sheet" June 20, 2005, p. 3)...