General Surgery Coding Alert

Question: Can I use 99070 to report the use of supplies at our surgical office?Iowa SubscriberAnswer: Typically, no, you should not report 99070 for supplies your surgeon uses in the office. The AMA and Medicare already factor essentials into a code's values on the physician fee schedule. If you're doing a procedure in the office that requires tools, surgical trays, or other supplies, the reasonable expectation is that you will be using equipment and the pricing for the procedure accounts for those costs. The purpose of the site of service differential in the Medicare fee schedule is to include these supplies and services -- that's why you get paid more for the same procedure done in the office versus a facility.For example, if the doctor does a biopsy in the office (such as 11100, Biopsy of skin, subcutaneous tissue and/or mucous membrane [including simple closure], unless otherwise listed; single lesion), he [...]