Pediatric Coding Alert

Clip and save your guide to 5 common lesion diagnoses

When you remove a plantar wart, a white head or a molluscum, you should use different CPT and ICD-9 codes.

CPT contains five wart removal codes. Pediatricians usually use the 17000-17004 series (Destruction [e.g., laser surgery, electrosurgery, cryosurgery, chemosurgery, surgical curettement], all benign or premalignant lesions [e.g., actinic keratoses] other than skin tags or cutaneous vascular proliferative lesions ...), rather than the 17110-17111 series (Destruction [e.g., laser surgery, electrosurgery, cryosurgery, chemosurgery, surgical curettement], of flat warts, molluscum contagiosum, or milia ...).

Report Plantar Wart Removal With 17000

You can differentiate the sets 17000-17004 and 17110-17111 based on diagnosis. "They are basically the same procedure," says Pamela J. Biffle, CPC, CCS-P, ACS-DE, approved PMCC instructor, product development director of Custom Coding Books in Bellevue, Wash.

You should use 17000 (Destruction [e.g., laser surgery, electrosurgery, cryosurgery, chemosurgery, surgical curettement], all benign or premalignant lesions [e.g., actinic keratoses] other than skin tags or cutaneous vascular proliferative lesions; first lesion]) when you destroy a benign or premalignant lesion other than skin tags, such as actinic keratosis (702.0).

Report CPT 17110 (Destruction [e.g., laser surgery, electrosurgery, cryosurgery, chemosurgery, surgical curettement], of flat warts, molluscum contagiosum, or milia; up to 14 lesions) when you destroy up to 14 flat warts (078.10, Viral warts, unspecified), molluscum contagiosum (078.0) or milium (whitehead) (706.2).

Coding tool: Here are some common diagnoses and the corresponding CPT and ICD-9 codes that you should use in the chart to the top right.