Medicare Compliance & Reimbursement

Hint: The answer depends upon whether the physician used the same type of technique during both procedures. Question: A patient came into our ASC for a screening colonoscopy; the physician found and removed a polyp. The patient was discharged from the ASC, but on the way home, the patient stopped to go to the bathroom only to discover she was bleeding. She returned to the ASC the same day, and the physician performed another colonoscopy to control the bleeding. In the process, he removed another polyp. I know we can't charge for the control of bleeding that the polyp removal caused. How should we code for this encounter? Answer: If the physician uses the same technique to remove both polyps, you should code it with only one procedure. Two polyps, one technique: You should report code 45384 (Colonoscopy, flexible, proximal to splenic flexure; with removal of tumor[s], polyp[s], or other lesion[s] [...]