General Surgery Coding Alert

Question: When the surgeon performs a wound VAC or cleans a wound by scraping with a sharp curette (not excising tissue), is it appropriate to use a debridement code or should we report an active wound care management code from the range 97597-97606? Ohio Subscriber Answer: Physicians typically use the debridement codes (11000-11001, Debridement of extensive eczematous or infected skin; ... or 11004-11005, Debridement of skin, subcutaneous tissue, muscle and fascia for necrotizing soft tissue infection; ...) for debridement by any method. Without question these codes most closely describe wound debridement by sharp curettement. You should only report wound care management codes such as 97605-97606 (Negative pressure wound therapy [e.g., vacuum assisted drainage collection], including topical application[s], wound assessment, and instruction[s] for ongoing care, per session; ...) for a therapeutic service that involves more than simple wound debridement. These codes require "direct (one-on-one) patient contact" to debride the site and [...]