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General Surgery Coding Alert

Battle Biopsy Coding Challenges and Unlock Reimbursement With 3 Essential Tips

Published on Sat Nov 28, 2009

Tip: Pathology won't change your CPT code, but may change your ICD-9 choice. If you don't recognize when you can -- and can't -- separately report a biopsy and a procedure, you could be giving up deserved reimbursement. Biopsies are vital procedures that general surgeons use in a multitude of locations on and in the body to diagnose and monitor many diseases. Follow these expert biopsy coding tips to ensure you capture every piece of the biopsy procedures your surgeon performs. Wait For the Pathology Report To Choose Dx You should always wait until the pathology report comes back to choose the proper codes to report, even though this will not always affect the CPT code you will choose. Reason: The biopsy specimen's pathology will affect the ICD-9 code you report, but most CPT procedure codes are not based on the specimen's results. "There are a few CPT codes which are linked to [...]
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