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ED Coding and Reimbursement Alert

Reader Question:

When does genitalia become an extremity? It depends on who you ask.

Published on Thu Apr 19, 2012

Question: Which CPT® code is used to report the ultrasound examination of a palpable mass in the groin?  There is a discussion going on in a medical coding forum about it, with some saying it should be 76870 quoting CPT Assistant® and others saying 76882 is correct quoting ACR. Who is right?New Jersey SubscriberAnswer: The code choice will depend on the documentation of where the soft tissue mass is located. By medical definition, the groin is the fold or depression marking the juncture of the lower abdomen and the inner part of the thigh, or the region of that line. Not unlike the question of when the forehead becomes the scalp on a bald man, there is room for reasonable people to disagree what is meant by groin.We might all know what is meant by a "groin pull", and there seems little doubt about what is meant by being "kicked [...]
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