General Surgery Coding Alert

Question: I have a general surgery coding companion book which says that we can bill +19295 for the placement of the clip when our surgeon places a clip for a patient who has a breast mass. However, we're not getting paid. Should we still be reporting the code? Maryland Subscriber Answer: Code +19295 (Image guided placement, metallic localization clip, percutaneous, during breast biopsy ...) is for placing a clip. However, there is no reimbursement for this code. How it works: If you look at the relative value unit (RVU) structure for +19295 you will see that there is no monetary value assigned for work (that's the work of placing the clip), a small amount assigned for practice (that's the actual cost of the clip), and a tiny amount assigned for malpractice. When CPT created +19295 it decided that the physician work was so minimal with the clip placement that there [...]