General Surgery Coding Alert

Question: A patient presented to our office thinking that she had a broken ankle. Following an x-ray, the surgeon diagnosed a sprained ankle, wrapped the ankle with an ACE bandage and sent the patient on her way. Can we bill for the bandage in addition to the visit, using 99070? (Supplies and materials [except spectacles], provided by the physician or other qualified healthcare professional over and above those usually included with the office visit or other services rendered [list drugs, trays, supplies, or materials provided]).

Codify Subscriber

Answer: You may bill for the ACE bandage in addition to the office visit, but you probably shouldn’t report 99070 (Supplies and materials [except spectacles], provided by the physician or other qualified healthcare professional over and above those usually included with the office visit or other services rendered [list drugs, trays, supplies, or materials provided]).

You should bill an E/M code for the visit based on what the surgeon documents using a code such as 99213 (Office or other outpatient visit for the evaluation and management of an established patient, which requires at least 2 of these 3 key components …).

You may additionally separately bill the ACE bandage using a more specific HCPCS code instead of the general supplies code 99070.

Do this: Report S8431 (Compression bandage, roll) to reflect the ACE bandage that you provided.