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Ob-Gyn Coding Alert

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Stop Searching for Vulvar Abscess Excision Code

Published on Thu Feb 15, 2007

Question: My ob-gyn performed an excision of a vulvar abscess, and I am having difficulty finding a code to accommodate that procedure. What code could I use? The ob-gyn did this procedure for a chronic nonhealing vulvar abscess. Minnesota Subscriber Answer: You should go with the skin excision codes (11420-11426).-Keep in mind, however, that your ob-gyn must document the lesion's size to do so. Otherwise, you are stuck with 58999 (Unlisted procedure, female genital system [nonobstetrical]) for this procedure. When reporting an unlisted-procedure code, you-ll have to be extra vigilant with your documentation and provide a description of the procedure in plain English as well as a comparison to a procedure that has an existing code (if possible).
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