Nerve Conduction Studies and Electromyography

Covered: NCS and EMG are payable for diagnosis/localization of focal neuropathies (e.g., carpal tunnel, ulnar), radiculopathy, mono‑/polyneuropathy, myopathy, plexopathy, neuromuscular junction disorders, traumatic nerve lesions, and when done immediately prior to botulinum/phenol injections; excluded are portable/hand‑held or non‑real‑time devices, sNCT/current perception threshold, psychophysical measures billed separately, routine/monitoring testing for diabetic or ESRD polyneuropathy, certain limited or premature EMG uses (e.g., exclusive intrinsic foot testing, paraspinal testing in scar, very early post‑trauma, surface/macro EMG), and computer‑generated discriminatory device reports. Key requirements: studies must be performed by appropriately credentialed clinicians with real‑time waveform display and interpretation, contemporaneous documented clinical indication and numeric NCS/EMG findings (preferably tabular), and NCS generally must be accompanied by EMG except when NCS alone is appropriate for high‑pretest‑probability carpal tunnel.