Electrical Stimulation for the Treatment of Arthritis
Customize your policy alerts
Sign up for all Blue Cross Blue Shield - North Carolina policy alerts
Know when Blue Cross Blue Shield - North Carolina releases new policies or updates existing guidance.
Monitor payer policy activity
Defines BCBSNC's coverage stance on noninvasive electrical and electromagnetic stimulation devices used to treat osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis for commercial members; applies to services described in this policy and to providers submitting claims or prior authorization requests.
3/7/23 References updated. Description section updated. Specialty Matched Consultant Advisory Panel review 2/2023. Medical Director Review 2/2023. No change to policy statement.
3/6/24 Description, regulatory status, policy guidelines, and references updated. No change to policy statement. Specialty Matched Consultant Advisory Panel review 2/2024. Medical Director Review 2/2024.
3/12/25 References updated. No change to policy statement. Specialty Matched Consultant Advisory Panel review 2/2025. Medical Director Review 2/2025.
3/11/26 References updated. No change to policy statement. Specialty Matched Consultant Advisory Panel review 2/2026. Medical Director Review 2/2026.
Coverage Determinations
Coverage and supporting criteria
Policy statement and supporting rationale
Implementation/Disclosures
Implementation/update history and disclosure statements; no coverage criteria or policy statement changes are present in these chunks.
Billing and Coding
| E0762 | Transcutaneous electrical stimulation device (listed as applicable code in policy) |
Provider Requirements and Notices
Provide medical records on request; code E0762 inclusion not a guarantee of payment
BCBSNC may request medical records to determine medical necessity; inclusion of HCPCS code E0762 in the policy does not guarantee reimbursement. If records are requested, letters of support or explanation may be useful but are not sufficient unless they include all specific information needed to make a medical necessity determination. Review the member's benefit booklet for benefit availability.
- Applicable code listed: E0762 (inclusion does not guarantee reimbursement).
- BCBSNC may request medical records for determination of medical necessity.
- Letters of support/explanation are often useful but are not sufficient documentation unless all specific information needed for medical necessity determination is included.
- Check the member's benefit booklet for coverage availability.
Policy is informational; implementation history shows no change to policy statement
This medical policy is provided for informational purposes and is not an authorization, certification, explanation of benefits, or contract. Implementation history entries (2023–2026) note updates to references, descriptions, and guidelines but explicitly state there was no change to the policy statement.
- 3/7/23, 3/6/24, 3/12/25, 3/11/26 entries: updates to references/descriptions/guidelines with 'No change to policy statement.'
- Disclosure: benefits and eligibility are determined by the group contract and subscriber certificate in effect at time services are rendered.
Definitions
OpenPayer is powered by Trek Health's payer performance platform. Trek continuously ingests, validates, and normalizes Transparency in Coverage data alongside payer policies and other commercial payer data to create a structured payer intelligence foundation. OpenPayer uses this foundation to deliver personalized search results, dynamically generated policy pages, and tailored policy monitoring based on each user's payers, specialties, billing codes, and areas of interest. The same intelligence powers broader payer performance workflows, including reimbursement benchmarking, contract evaluation, payer negotiations, and financial decision-making.