Appeal type: Medical Necessity
Decision: Overturned Decision of Health Plan

Nature of Statutory Criteria/Case Summary: An enrollee has requested authorization and coverage for Orthovisc injections to the knees. The Health Plan has denied this request indicating that the requested procedure is not medically necessary for treatment of the enrollees bilateral knee osteoarthritis. A review of the record indicates that the enrollee has been diagnosed with bilateral knee osteoarthritis. In a report, the enrollees provider noted knee pain. The provider noted prior viscosupplementation provided 4 to 4.5 months of significant improvement. The enrollees provider has recommended Orthovisc injections to the knees for the enrollee.Four prior series of injections resulted in significant benefit to the enrollee. As evidenced by the history of significant benefit from prior injections, the current literature continues to support the use of viscosupplementation for osteoarthritis of the knees. The European Society for Clinical and Economic Aspects of Osteoporosis and Osteoarthritis treatment algorithm recommends intra-articular hyaluronic acid for management of knee osteoarthritis as second-line treatment in patients who remain symptomatic despite use of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs. This recommendation is based upon accumulating evidence that intraarticular hyaluronic acid provides a significant benefit in knee osteoarthritis. There is good evidence that intraarticular hyaluronic acid injections reduce pain and increase function in knee osteoarthritis, and the benefits are long lasting as compared with intraarticular corticosteroids. Evidence from real-life studies of repeat courses of intraarticular hyaluronic acid demonstrates an improvement in pain or function lasting up to 40 months (12 months after the last injection cycle), a reduction in use of concomitant analgesia by up to 50%, and suggests that there may be a delay in the need for total knee replacement of around 2 years. The clinical benefit of intraarticular hyaluronic acid on knee osteoarthritis may be 2-fold: (i) mechanical viscosupplementation of the joint (allowing lubrication and shock absorption) and (ii) the re-establishment of joint homeostasis through induction of endogenous hyaluronic acid production, which continues long after the exogenous injection, has left the joint. Campbell and colleagues provide a systematic review of overlapping meta-analyses comparing viscosupplementation with other nonoperative treatment modalities for knee osteoarthritis. This shows that the current highest level of evidence suggests that intraarticular hyaluronic acid is a viable option for knee osteoarthritis. Its use results in improvements in knee pain and function that can persist for up to 26 weeks. Viscosupplementation has a good safety profile, and its use should be considered in patients with knee osteoarthritis. As such, the request for Orthovisc injections of the knees is reasonable, appropriate and medically necessary in this clinical setting. Therefore, the requested Orthovisc injections are medically necessary for the treatment of this patient.Final Result: The reviewer determined that the requested procedure is medically necessary for treatment of the patients medical condition. Therefore, the Health Plans denial should be overturned.Credentials/Qualifications: The reviewer is board certified in orthopedic surgery and is actively practicing. The reviewer is an expert in the treatment of the enrollees medical condition and knowledgeable about the proposed treatment through recent or current actual clinical experience treating those with the same or a similar medical condition.