Neurosurgery Coding Alert

Escape losing to bundles; learn where modifiers apply.

When your neurosurgeon provides neuroendoscopy services during cranial procedures, you'll stand a much better chance of filing successful claims if you're careful to never report the service with open procedures and if you avoid some critical bundles. Here are top five questions that you should answer to assess your understanding of neuroendoscopic procedures. 

Question 1: Which of the following codes applies to neuroendoscopic procedure?

a) 62164

b) 61510

c) 61606

d) 61526

Question 2: What do you report when your surgeon adopts a neuroendoscopic approach to resect a pituitary tumor and then abandons the endoscopic approach due to some complication during the procedure and shifts to an open procedure to complete the tumor excision?

a) 62165

b) 62165-53

c) 61548

d) 62165-53, 61548

Question 3: Your surgeon planned to remove an intraventricular colloid cyst using neuroendoscopy. You read that during the procedure, significant venous bleeding was encountered that made endoscopic visualization impossible to control the bleeding and complete removal of the cyst. Your surgeon hence converted to a craniotomy to achieve better visualization, control the bleeding, and complete removal of the cyst.  How do you report his procedure?

a) 62162

b) 62162-22

c) 61516

d) 61516-22

Question 4: What do you report when your surgeon uses a burr hole procedure to insert a neuroendoscope to drain a cyst in the brain?

a) 61150

b) 62162

c) 61150, 62162

d) None of the above

Question 5: With which of the following codes can you report code 62160?

a) 62220

b) 62223

c) 62225

d) All of the above.