General Surgery Coding Alert
Dx Shows Medical Necessity for Scar Revision
Question: A year after our surgeon excised a basal cell carcinoma on a patient’s right little finger, the patient returned complaining that the scar contracted her joint, causing difficulty bending the finger. The surgeon surgically released the contracture of the 2.3 cm scar. How should we code this procedure and diagnosis? Tennessee Subscriber Answer: Report the surgeon’s revision of a 2.3 cm scar as 13131 (Repair, complex, forehead, cheeks, chin, mouth, neck, axillae, genitalia, hands and/or feet; 1.1 cm to 2.5 cm). Because the reason for the procedure is functional, not just cosmetic, you need to capture that in the diagnosis coding. Report L90.5 (Scar conditions and fibrosis of skin), as well as M24.541 (Contracture, right hand).
General Surgery Coding Alert
- Vascular Surgery:
4 Tips Focus Infrarenal Aorta Endograft Coding
Distinguish cases involving rupture. When your surgeon performs an endograft procedure in the abdominal infrarenal [...] - ICD-10-CM:
Sharpen Your Skills With This Diagnosis Coding Quiz
Don’t miss exception to ‘code confirmed Dx first’ rule. Perfect procedure coding won’t get you [...] - You Be the Coder:
Focus on Nail Matrix for Code Selection
Question: Our surgeon treated a patient in the office whose big toenail was almost completely torn [...] - HIPAA:
Defer to OCR Privacy Reminder in Age of COVID-19
Don’t shirk ‘prior authorization’ requirement. In case your surgery practice lost its focus on HIPAA [...] - Reader Questions:
Use COVID-19 Signifiers for 'Formal Waiver' Claims
Question: Are Medicare providers supposed to be using the CR modifier or DR condition code [...] - Reader Questions:
Dx Shows Medical Necessity for Scar Revision
Question: A year after our surgeon excised a basal cell carcinoma on a patient’s right [...] - Reader Questions:
Decipher Diagnosis for EGD Findings
Question: The surgeon performed an EGD and described the distal esophagus as “appearing like a [...]
