Neurosurgery Coding Alert

Question: My physician did a transphenoidal hypophysectomy with an ENT, who says he has his own codes to bill. How should I code for the neurosurgeons portion?

California Subscriber

Answer: You have two options, depending on how your physician performed the procedure.

First, you can report 61548 (Hypophysectomy or excision of pituitary tumor,transnasal or transseptal approach, nonstereotactic) provided your neurosurgeon performed the procedure via an open approach through the nose or septum.

Alternatively, you should report 62165 (Neuroendoscopy, intracranial; with excision of pituitary tumor, transnasal or trans-sphenoidal approach) if the physician performed the procedure using an endoscope.

Important: Each surgeon reports the same CPT code (61548 or 62165) appended with modifier 62 (Two surgeons). You can expect to be paid 62.5 percent of the payers allowable as a co-surgeon.

-- Technical and coding guidance for You Be the Coder and Reader Questions provided by Gregory Przybylski, MD, director of neurosurgery at the New Jersey Neuroscience Institute, JFK Medical Center in Edison.