General Surgery Coding Alert

Resolve wound care questions with this advice. Confused about when to choose a debridement code or an active wound care code? CPT 2011 comes to your rescue with revised codes and guidelines that clarify how to choose between the two code groups. Past uncertainty about choosing between debridement and wound care code families has led to Office of Inspector General (OIG) scrutiny of these claims. Accordingly, the CPT 2011 revised coding for debridement and wound care "reflect CMS's continued concern with perceived billing abuses," explains M. Trayser Dunaway, MD, a surgeon, speaker, coding educator and healthcare consultant in Camden, S.C. Depth is the Bottom Line Based on 2010 and older CPT codes, you had to consider lots of factors when choosing between debridement and active wound care codes. Not anymore. "Depth is the only documentation item you need to determine the correct code," explained Chad Rubin, MD, FACS, American College [...]