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Ob-Gyn Coding Alert

Reader Question:

Separate Surgeons = Separate Codes

Published on Fri Apr 30, 2004

Question: During a patient's operative session, one ob-gyn performed a sling operation for stress incontinence while another did a cystourethroscopy. How should I report this to give each surgeon appropriate credit for his work?

Arizona Subscriber Answer: For the first physician, you should report 57288 (Sling operation for stress incontinence [e.g., fascia or synthetic]) and submit 52000 (Cystourethro-scopy [separate procedure]) for the second. These are two separate procedures with their own work values, so you shouldn't have to append a modifier to either code.

On the other hand, if the physician who performed the cystourethroscopy did not open or close, you should append modifier -52 (Reduced services) to 52000.
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