Otolaryngology Coding Alert

Question: An otolaryngologist performs a canalplasty with osteoma excision. Should I report 69310 because the patient has stenosis due to the osteoma, or would 69140 be more appropriate?

Illinois Subscriber

Answer: You should select the code based on whether the otolaryngologist reconstructed the external auditory canal, not the patient's condition, which in this case is stenosis. If the otolaryngologist made the incision, removed the osteoma and replaced the skin, you should report 69140 (Excision exostosis[es], external auditory canal).

But if he performed a "plasty," such as drilling the bony canal or attaching skin grafts, you should assign 69310 (Reconstruction of external auditory canal [meatoplasty] [e.g., for stenosis due to injury, infection] [separate procedure]).

-- Information for You Be the Coder and Reader Questions provided by Pamela J. Biffle, CPC, CCS-P, an independent consultant in the Dallas/Fort Worth area and an American Academy of Professional Coders instructor; Rhonda Buckholtz, CPC, practice manager at Crawford and Fitch -- Ear, Nose and Throat in Franklin, Pa; Barbara Cobuzzi, MBA, CPC, CPC-H, an otolaryngology coding and reimbursement specialist and president of Cash Flow Solutions, a medical billing firm in Brick, N.J.; and Rebecca McKinney, CPC, financial analyst at WakeMed Faculty Physicians ENT -- Head and Neck Surgery in Raleigh, N.C.