Coding Quiz: Lesion Excision

Keep your lesion removal coding sharp -- test your coding knowledge of codes 11400-11646 before you submit your next claim. See if you know the answers to this true/false quiz.
True or False?
1. The physician doesn't have a pathology report indicating whether a lesion is benign or malignant, but she suspects that the lesion is benign. Therefore, correct coding requires you to follow her suspicion and assign a benign lesion excision code (for instance, 11400, Excision, benign lesion including margins, except skin tag [unless listed elsewhere], trunk, arms or legs; excised diameter 0.5 cm or less). You should also link the appropriate ICD-9 code (for example, 216.0, Benign neoplasm of skin; skin of lip) to the procedure. _____________
2. You should assign a code from the 11600-11606 series for malignant lesions of the trunk.________
3. The physician should measure only the lesion's diameter prior to excision. __________
4. When the physician removes several lesions from the same area on a patient's body, you should report one procedure code, such as 11440 (Excision, other benign lesion ...), because Medicare bundles the other work into the initial procedure. __________

- Published on 2004-07-09