ED Coding and Reimbursement Alert

The You be the Coder question in the October 2000 ED Coding Alert asked about coding excision of a 10-cm perineal tumor. The answer, code 11446, was incorrect.

Code 11426 would actually be correct for the example given. It is appropriate to use excision codes 11400-11646 (excision, benign lesion; excision malignant lesion) but the the correct excision code options for this scenario are 11626 (excision, malignant lesion, scalp, neck, hands, feet, genitalia; lesion diameter over 4.0 cm) for a malignant tumor and 11426 (excision, benign lesion, except skin tag [unless listed elsewhere], scalp, neck, hands, feet, genitalia; lesion diameter over 4.0 cm) for a benign tumor.

ED Coding Alert apologizes for the error.