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General Surgery Coding Alert

CPT® 2012:

You'll Get Closure With New Skin Repair Guidelines

Published on Sun Jan 16, 2011

Also, don't miss separate debridement opportunity. Feeling overwhelmed by all the changes in the CPT® 2012 integumentary section? We've got the scoop for you, with a little help from the AMA's CPT® Editorial Committee, to keep your skin repair claims clean and earn all the pay you deserve. Note New Modifier Advice for Repairs 2012 offers new introductory notes that provide guidance on how to report skin closures (12001-13160). While the guidelines previously advised the use of modifier 51 (Multiple procedures) when reporting different wound repair classifications together, that guidance is old news as of Jan. 1. "The guidelines were clarified for repair, changing the modifier 51 that had been there to the distinct procedural service modifier, 59," said Albert E. Bothe, Jr., MD, during his "CPT® Changes: General Surgery" seminar at the CPT® 2012 Annual Symposium in Chicago on Nov. 17. In black and white: The 2012 CPT® manual [...]
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