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Oncology & Hematology Coding Alert

Reader Question ~ Don't Expect Dx Code to Show Right, Left

Published on Thu Oct 12, 2006

Question: If a patient has breast cancer in both her breasts, is there a way to indicate this in the diagnosis codes?


Oregon Subscriber

 
Answer: In short -- no. You won't find breast neoplasm ICD-9 codes broken down into right and left.
 
However, depending on the services the physician provides, you may be able to append modifiers RT (Right side), LT (Left side), or 50 (Bilateral procedure) to the CPT codes.

Eye on the future: ICD-10 should allow you to report right and left breast diagnosis codes.
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