Practice Management Alert
Look for 2016 Changes to Cholangiography, Biliary Drainage
Question: I work at a small, rural general surgery practice. We have a coder on staff, but I am also responsible for coding some claims when we are especially busy. I was looking through CPT® 2016, and I noticed that the 39400 code is gone. How will this affect surgery coding, and are there any other coding changes I need to be aware of in general surgery?
Mississippi Subscriber
Answer: CPT® will delete 39400 (Mediastinoscopy, includes biopsy[ies], when performed), but it does replace the code with a pair of more specific codes. When your surgeon performs a mediastinoscopy with biopsy, choose 39401 (Mediastinoscopy; includes biopsy[ies] of mediastinal mass [e.g., lymphoma], when performed) when the biopsy involves a lymph node. If the biopsy addresses a mediastinal mass, choose 39402 (Mediastinoscopy; with lymph node biopsy[ies] [e.g., lung cancer staging]).
There’s more: The changes CPT® made for 2016 could affect general surgery practices more than most providers. There are upward of 50 code additions, deletions, and revisions that general surgeons should note. To keep your 2016 coding on point, check out “Clip N Save: Use This Chart to Keep track of New Surgical Codes” on page 85.
Practice Management Alert
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Look for 2016 Changes to Cholangiography, Biliary Drainage
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