New Jersey Subscriber
Answer: Having the procedure listed in the heading will not make or break you as far as compliance and audit liability, says Susan Callaway-Stradley, CPC, CCS-P, an independent coding consultant and educator in North Augusta, S.C. If you have billed for the service, it must be clearly and specifically documented in the body of the operative report, no matter what is listed in the heading. On a realistic level, any time the operative report has complete information in all applicable areas, the chances of miscoding a procedure are reduced.