Ob-Gyn Coding Alert

Find out why knowing the weight of the uterus is so important.Don't just correct your hysterectomy claims -- perfect them by narrowing down your possible coding choices. By following these three steps, you'll find the right hysterectomy code every time.Key: According to Donna C. Kroening, CPC, COBGC, reimbursement manager for the department of obstetrics and gynecology at the Medical College of Wisconsin, when you code hysterectomies, you'll have to review these factors in this order:approach size/weightextent of uterus removedadditional procedures performed.Step 1: Analyze Your Ob-gyn's ApproachFirst, you need to decide what approach your ob-gyn used. This will help you narrow down the code series you'll work with.Open procedures: For a hysterectomy performed via the abdominal approach, you should look to 58150-58240. If your ob-gyn performed a hysterectomy using a vaginal approach, you'll pull a code from the 58260-58294 series.Laparoscopic procedure: For a laparoscopic-assisted vaginal hysterectomy (LAVH), you'll use 58550-58554. If your [...]