# Help on inguinal hernia repairs



## vmounce (Oct 10, 2011)

Can we bill for Goretex Mesh with inguinal Hernias? Use L8699?  Also, is lipoma of the cord allowed to be billed with hernia procedure?

Appreciate any information.

Vickie Mounce


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## Jamie Dezenzo (Oct 10, 2011)

Per commerical contracts we bill mesh....see C1781
CPT 55520 bundles per CCI edits but can break out with 59 if separate.


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## ASC CODER (Oct 11, 2011)

yes you do bill the lipoma BUT it has to be seperate from the hernia. Not conected!


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## vmounce (Oct 13, 2011)

So, if it is same incision it is still okay to bill for inguinal hernia and lipoma of the cord?

This really confuses me.

Vickie


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## Jamie Dezenzo (Oct 13, 2011)

I don't


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## Jamie Dezenzo (Oct 14, 2011)

Yes, this has been disputed....

Per General Surgery Alert (Jan 2008) Question

Is Lipoma Excision Separate with Hernia Repair?
Question: During an inguinal hernia repair (49505) with mesh, the surgeon preforms an excision of a lipoma of the spermatic cord. Should I report an additional code for the excision? The pathology report shows the specimen is a "hernia sac" and final diagnosis is "fibroadipose tissue".  Pennsylvania Subscriber

Answer: Code 55520 (Excision of lesion of spermatic cord -separate procedure) properly describes excisions of the type your surgeon performed. But 55520 is a designated "separate procedure" that occurs here with a related primary procedure, the hernia repair 49505 (Repair initial inguinal hernia, age 5 yrs or older; reducible). Therefore, correct coding dictates that you bundle the excision into the hernia repair.
In short: You would report only the hernia repair, as usual, using 49505, with no additional code for the excision of the spermatic cord lipoma.

I did notice 55520 now bundles per CCI Version 17.1 (April 2011)


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## codedog (Oct 14, 2011)

glad to know this ,thanks,guess info I had was outdated- SORRY-deleted  info


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## ASC CODER (Oct 17, 2011)

thanks for the updated info


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