Anesthesia Coding Alert

Question: My anesthesiologist administered anesthesia for a burn excision on the leg of a middle-aged adult male, but he didn't give clear notes on the patient's affected body surface area. How do I code for this? Kansas Subscriber Answer: You will start by coding 01952 (Anesthesia for second- and third-degree burn excision or debridement with or without skin grafting, any site, for total body surface area [TBSA] treated during anesthesia and surgery; between 4 percent and 9 percent of total body surface area) and add +01953 ( . . . each additional 9 percent total body surface area or part thereof [List separately in addition to code for primary procedure]) as necessary. Next, you'll need to find documentation of the patient's affected total body surface area (TBSA). The attending surgeon typically documents the TBSA of the burn victim. The history and physical (H&P) portion of the surgeon's documentation may have [...]