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General Surgery Coding Alert

CPT® 2012:

5 Tips for Large Tumor Excision Exemplify Skin Replacement Rules

Published on Thu May 10, 2012

Know when to capture pay for preparation, placement, and more. With new codes and an updated introduction, CPT® 2012 has you renovating your skin replacement coding skills, once again. Although you learned how size matters with new codes 15271-+15278 (Application of skin substitute graft ...) in "Skin Substitute Coding Overhaul Simplifies Processes" (General Surgery Coding Alert Vol. 14 No. 1), you'll need to make sure you also understand the updated CPT® instruction for skin replacement surgery. Follow this large-tumor-excision repair example to master five tools to ensure accurate, complete claims. Scenario: The surgeon excises a 2.5 cm melanoma with a 3 cm margin from a patient's right thigh, then applies a 40 sq. cm skin substitute graft with sutures and dresses the area. Tip 1: Calculate Size for Excision Procedure You'll turn to the integumentary malignant-lesion-excision codes to report your surgeon's work in excising the melanoma. Choose 11606 (Excision, malignant [...]
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