Ob-Gyn Coding Alert

Here's the difference between reporting 57240 and 57288. The key to stress urinary incontinence (SUI) coding is determining the surgeon's approach -- either abdominal or vaginal. SUI is urine leakage that occurs when a woman engages in an activity such as laughing, lifting, or sneezing. These activities place pressure or stress on the bladder. SUI can result from a wide variety of causes, including vaginal deliveries, obesity, pelvic tumors, or chronic constipation. Ob-gyns treat SUI with pelvic floor exercises,devices that block urine loss, or surgery. Surgery generally involves suspending the urethra, says Peggy Stilley, CPC-OGS, ACS-OB, clinic manager at OU Physicians in Tulsa, Okla. When the physician and patient choose surgery, however, not all the procedures are equal from a coding perspective. Abdominal Approach? Choose 51840 If the surgeon chooses an abdominal approach for the urethral suspension, you should consider 51840 (Anterior vesicourethropexy, or urethropexy [e.g.,Marshall-Marchetti-Krantz, Burch]; simple) or 51841 (... [...]