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Primary Care Coding Alert

Reader Question:

Go Beyond CPT for Dystrophic Nail Trimming Code

Published on Fri Jun 25, 2004

Question: A family physician's documentation reads, "Trimmed dystrophic nails." He doesn't mention any debridement. Should I use 11719 or CPT 11720 ? New York Subscriber Answer: You shouldn't use either code. When your FP trims dystrophic nails, you should assign HCPCS Level II code G0127 (Trimming of dystrophic nails, any number). Code 11719 (Trimming of nondystrophic nails, any number) is inappropriate because it describes trimming nondystrophic or healthy nails, and your FP trimmed dystrophic, such as incurvated or thick, nails. And, your FP doesn't document debridement. So you shouldn't report 11720 (Debridement of nail[s] by any method[s]; one to five).
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