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General Surgery Coding Alert

CPT 2010:

Make Sure Your Tumor Excisions 'Measure Up' Starting Jan. 1

Published on Thu Jan 07, 2010

Look to documented size and more to capture all the pay you deserve. Your general surgery practice is facing 72 new/revised codes for soft tumor excisions and resections in 2010, so you'd better get ready now. Let our experts explain how location, size, depth, and malignancy interact to help you select the right code from CPT's new soft-tissue tumor matrix. Don't forget documentation: Unless your general surgeon documents the new criteria, you'll be stuck reporting lesser codes -- and reaping lesser pay. "The key is to have a conscientious surgeon who will be sure to dictate these findings in the operative report so the coder is successful in utilizing them," says Kristine Newton, CPC, a billing coordinator in Sarasota, Fla. Look at these back and flank codes as an example of the 72 new and revised codes for soft tissue tumor removal: • 21930 -- Excision, tumor, soft tissue of back or [...]
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