Gastroenterology Coding Alert

Coding Tactics:

Strategies Help Improve Your Endoscopy Through Stoma Reporting

Multiple endoscopic rules don't apply for simultaneous sigmoidoscopy. When your gastroenterologist performs a colonoscopy through a stoma, don't make the mistake of reporting this procedure using colonoscopy code sets (45378 -- 45385). You will have to use another set of codes to accurately capture reporting for these procedures. Check the Basic Procedure When your gastroenterologist performs an endoscopic procedure through a stomal opening, your reporting primarily depends on the previous surgical procedure when the stoma was created. If the initial procedure was a colectomy with an ileostomy (the end of the ileum is connected to the stoma), you will have to report an endoscopy through stoma using ileoscopy through the stoma codes (44380 -- 44382, Ileoscopy, through stoma...). If a partial colectomy and a colostomy (the colon is connected to the stoma) were performed earlier, then an endoscopic procedure through stoma should be reported using colonoscopy through stoma codes (44388 -- 44397, Colonoscopy [...]
You’ve reached your limit of free articles. Already a subscriber? Log in.
Not a subscriber? Subscribe today to continue reading this article. Plus, you’ll get:
  • Simple explanations of current healthcare regulations and payer programs
  • Real-world reporting scenarios solved by our expert coders
  • Industry news, such as MAC and RAC activities, the OIG Work Plan, and CERT reports
  • Instant access to every article ever published in Revenue Cycle Insider
  • 6 annual AAPC-approved CEUs
  • The latest updates for CPT®, ICD-10-CM, HCPCS Level II, NCCI edits, modifiers, compliance, technology, practice management, and more

Other Articles in this issue of

Gastroenterology Coding Alert

View All