General Surgery Coding Alert

Question: Following an intraumbilical incision and entering the abdominal cavity with a laparoscope, our surgeon performed the following procedures: • Removal of left ovary and cyst • Enterotomy with removal of gallstone from the jejunum and enterotomy closure • Liver biopsy. Are we allowed to report all three procedures, and if so, which codes should we use? Tennessee Subscriber Answer: Yes, you should be able to report all three services. The correct codes for the three procedures are: • 58661 -- Laparoscopy, surgical; with removal of adnexal structures (partial or total oophorectomy and/or salpingectomy ) • 44238 -- Unlisted laparoscopy procedure, intestine (except rectum) • 47379 -- Unlisted laparoscopic procedure, liver. When the surgeon performs multiple laparoscopic surgical procedures, you should code each separately. Tip: Because you're reporting unlisted procedure codes, be sure to include comparison codes for pricing those procedures. No modifier: You can report all three codes without modifier 59 (Distinct [...]