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CPT 29824: Arthroscopic Distal Claviculectomy (Mumford)
CPT code 29824 represents an arthroscopic distal claviculectomy (Mumford procedure), a minimally invasive shoulder surgery that removes a portion of the clavicle to relieve pain from chronic inflammatory conditions, tendon impingement, and bone spurs. Nationally, this procedure is an established component of shoulder-preserving surgical care and is relevant for orthopaedic surgical practices, ambulatory surgery centers, and hospital outpatient departments managing degenerative and impingement-related shoulder pathology.
Key public and commercial payers included in the analysis are Aetna, Blue Cross Blue Shield, Cigna Health, UnitedHealthcare, and Medicare. The code is commonly billed for arthroscopic shoulder services where excision of the distal clavicle is indicated, often alongside other shoulder arthroscopic procedures.
Readers will gain a concise clinical and billing overview of CPT code 29824, including service definitions, typical sites of service, common clinical indications, and related arthroscopic shoulder procedures. The summary highlights payer coverage context and what to expect when coding or reviewing claims that include an arthroscopic Mumford procedure. Data not available in the input is noted where applicable.
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Billing Code Overview
CPT code 29824 describes an arthroscopic distal claviculectomy (Mumford procedure). The procedure involves examination of the shoulder joint with an arthroscope and insertion of instruments to remove a portion of the clavicle (collarbone) to relieve pain from chronic inflammatory conditions, impingement, or bone spurs. The operation is performed in a minimally invasive, arthroscopic manner.
Service type: Arthroscopic shoulder surgery — distal claviculectomy (Mumford)
Typical site of service: Hospital outpatient department or ambulatory surgery center (shoulder/orthopaedic surgical setting)
National Reimbursement Benchmarks
Medicare’s national mean rate of $652.20 for CPT 29824 sits well below BUCA’s average commercial mean of $2,210.60, reflecting a substantial gap between federal program reimbursement and aggregated commercial pricing. That difference of $1,558.40 highlights how commercial arrangements — represented by BUCA here — tend to pay multiple times Medicare’s average for this arthroscopic knee procedure, with other major commercial payers’ means (e.g., Blue Cross Blue Shield $3,164.60; UnitedHealth Group $1,202.90; Cigna $1,125.60; Aetna $487.40) distributed around those endpoints.
Dispersion measured as the interquartile range (P75−P25) is widest for Blue Cross Blue Shield at $2,507.60 and narrowest for Aetna at $606.00, indicating BCBS has the largest middle-50% spread while Aetna’s middle range is relatively tight. UnitedHealth Group ($734.80) and BUCA ($1,731.60) show moderate dispersion, with Cigna’s IQR at $765.20; Medicare’s IQR is small at $59.00 based on available locality percentiles, reflecting relatively low variation across its localities compared with most commercial payers.