Podiatry Coding & Billing Alert

Question: My podiatrist used a blade and local anesthesia to cut one corn off a patient’s left foot. I looked in my CPT^® manual, but I am confused because I see several corn removal codes. How do I know which one to choose?

Ohio Subscriber

Answer: You should report 11055 (Paring or cutting of benign hyperkeratotic lesion (eg, corn or callus); single lesion) for this procedure because, according to the medical documentation, your podiatrist removed just one, single lesion. If you look at the descriptor for 11055, you will see that you should report this code for a “single lesion”.

On the other hand, if your podiatrist removes more than one corn or callus, you should turn to the following codes:

• 11056 (… 2 to 4 lesions)
• 11057 (…. more than 4 lesions)