ED Coding and Reimbursement Alert

Multiple lesions, multiple codes? Maybe. When your ED physician performs debridements, be sure to note whether the service was partial- or full-thickness, or you'll overcode the encounter. Follow this FAQ to submit spot-on debridement claims each time. 1. What Is a Partial Thickness Debridement? The most common ED presentation for debridement involves partial-thickness debridement, which you'd code with 11040 (Debridement; skin, partial thickness). "A partial-thickness debridement includes the epidermis and part of the dermis, but some dermal cells are left," explains Marcella Bucknam, CPC, CCS-P, CPC-H, CCS, CPCP, COBGC, CCC, manager of compliance education for the University of Washington Physicians and Children's University Medical Group Compliance Program. The physician typically performs these procedures using a scalpel or scissors, depending on the situation, she says. (Remember that a wound requiring 11040 is mostly dermal; debridements that extend past the dermis may be a candidates for a higher-level code.) Example: A patient [...]