On the Cutting Edge:
Uterine Fibroids Have a New Treatment - and New Codes
Published on Sat Jul 02, 2005
Lack of payment for category III codes doesn't mean you can ignore them
Have patients with uterine fibroids? Then you may start seeing an increase in a procedure called "myolysis." Get ahead of the game by learning about this new medical method - and how to code for it. Master Myolysis Knowledge Myolysis is a new experimental, minimally invasive procedure that shrinks uterine fibroids either alone or before removing them.
What happens: A patient presents with symptoms of menorrhagia, or pelvic pressure. The ob-gyn determines she has uterine fibroids. He pretreats the patient with a two- to six-month course of gonadotropin-releasing hormone analogues (GnRH-As) to shrink the fibroids. Then he inserts probes multiple times into the fibroid. When activated, various energy sources (such as, Nd:Yag laser, bipolar electrocautery, cryotherapy, radiofrequency ablation) induce devascularization of the fibroid and ultimately ablation of the target tissue.
When the ob-gyn uses radiofrequency, you should refer to the procedure as a HALT (Hysterectomy ALTernative) procedure, which you should report using the category III code 0071T (Focused ultrasound ablation of uterine leiomyomata, including MR guidance; total leiomyomata volume less than 200 cc of tissue) or 0072T (... total leiomyomata volume greater than or equal to 200 cc of tissue).
Most often, the ob-gyn performs this procedure laparoscopically, but more recently, some ob-gyns have done this procedure percutaneously using magnetic resonance imaging guidance. The MRI provides guidance for the insertion of the probe as well as thermal imaging maps.
Bad news: Because this procedure is new, you won't be reimbursed for it. Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts' policy is that 0071T and 0072T are "non-covered for all Plans, leaving no patient balance because these procedures do not meet our Medical Technology Assessment Guidelines."
However, if you have a Category III code for your procedure, you must use it. "Don't revert back to an unlisted-procedure code unless a payer instructs you to do so in writing," says Melanie Witt, RN, CPC, MA, an independent coding consultant from Fredericksburg, Va. "CPT rules are quite clear that if a category III code exists, it must be used because these are emerging technology codes and data need to be collected about their use before a category I code can be defended."