General Surgery Coding Alert

Your hard-earned $$$ could be on the line. The three codes might not be together in CPT®, but they represent one continuum for reporting endoscopic ultrasound (EUS) with biopsy or fine needle aspiration (FNA). Follow our expert's four tips to make sure you pick the right code and avoid making a $132 mistake. Tip 1: Round Up the Codes and Costs Don't let the CPT® "esophagus" heading confuse you: Some of the endoscopy codes go all the way to the jejunum. For endoscopy procedures that include EUS with biopsy or FNA specimen extraction, you should choose one of the following three codes (fees noted with each code based on non-facility Medicare Physician Fee Schedule, conversion factor 34.0376): 43232 -- Esophagoscopy, rigid or flexible; with transendoscopic ultrasound-guided intramural or transmural fine needle aspiration/biopsy(s)$265.15 43238 -- Upper gastrointestinal endoscopy including esophagus, stomach, and either the duodenum and/or jejunum as appropriate; with transendoscopic ultrasound- guided [...]