General Surgery Coding Alert

Question: When the surgeon shaves multiple lesions in the same general area -- the patients face, for example -- should I add the sizes together or report each lesion treatment separately? Wyoming Subscriber Answer: You should not add the lesion sizes together. Instead, you should report each lesion treatment separately. Why? The descriptors for 11300-11313 specify single lesion, which means that you may report one code for each lesion that the surgeon removes by shave technique. If, for instance, the physician shaves 16 dermal lesions, you may report an appropriate code for each shaving. Keep in mind, however, that if the physician does shave an extraordinary number of lesions during a single session, you may have to submit documentation to explain the situation. Example: Your surgeon removes, by shaving, four dermal lesions: one on the left upper arm, measuring 1.0 cm, two on the chest, measuring 1.4 cm and 1.6 cm, and [...]