# I&D and patial toe nail removal of ingowing nail



## riverloverjen38@yahoo.com (Sep 8, 2016)

I could use some feedback regarding a scenario.

Physician diagnosis is "Ingrowing toe nail." Procedure is documented as I&D of abscess with partial nail plate removal. Any suggestions on how to code this? Do I code both the I&D and the nail removal?

Thanks.


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## danskangel313 (Sep 9, 2016)

If you code for the I&D, you'd likely get a bundling edit for the nail removal. But the fact that the patient has an ingrowing toenail doesn't inherently mean the patient also has an abscess, so it'd be a stretch to meet the medical necessity of the I&D with just that DX. The documentation doesn't explain the abscess at all really. If it were me, I'd get clarification from the provider because the I&D will high a much higher reimbursement if the documentation supports it.


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