Cut Away the Confusion of Lesion Excision Code Choices
Published on Wed May 27, 2009
Coding from the pathology report alone could lead you to downcoding or upcoding errors. When you-re coding lesion excisions, you have to work your way through several steps before you actually determine the proper code to report. With several potential pitfalls along the way, choosing the right code can be a challenge. Take a look at these expert tips to be sure you-re not falling victim to excision coding myths. Determine Pathology and Location First When choosing a lesion excision code, you first need to look at the pathology report to determine if the lesion was benign or malignant. When reporting lesion excision, you-ll choose from 11400-11471 for benign lesions and 11600-11646 for malignant lesions. Once you know the pathology of the lesion, you should narrow your code choice further based on which body area the surgeon operated on. For coding purposes, CPT breaks lesion removal codes into three body [...]
