Advanced Search

Pulmonology Coding Alert

Reader Question:

Beat Coding Issues for Co-assistance During Surgery

Published on Mon Jun 25, 2012

Question: My coding problem involves a 3-hour surgical session for bronchoscopically monitored aortopexy and pulmonary artery-pexy for a 5-year-old patient. A cardiothoracic surgeon performed the aortopexy and pulmonary artery-pexy. Our pulmonologist performed a bronchoscopy before, during and after the surgical procedures to monitor the patient's condition and the effectiveness of the surgery. Our pulmonologist was present for the entire 3-hour period. How should our pulmonologist's services be coded?Dallas SubscriberAnswer: Concurrent intraoperative bronchoscopic monitoring is mandatory in the anterior aortopexy of tracheomalacia to find the correct site of extrinsic vascular compression responsible for narrowing of tracheal lumen in tracheomalacia. Since there is no specific code for the bronchoscopy services that your pulmonologist provided to monitor the aortopexy and pulmonary artery-pexy services that the cardiothoracic surgeon provided, you can attempt to separately report the service using the unlisted code 31899 (Unlisted procedure, trachea, bronchi). Ensure that you provide adequate documentation about the [...]
You’ve reached your limit of free articles. Already a subscriber? Log in.
Not a subscriber? Subscribe today to continue reading this article. Plus, you’ll get:
  • Simple explanations of current healthcare regulations and payer programs
  • Real-world reporting scenarios solved by our expert coders
  • Industry news, such as MAC and RAC activities, the OIG Work Plan, and CERT reports
  • Instant access to every article ever published in your eNewsletter
  • 6 annual AAPC-approved CEUs*
  • The latest updates for CPT®, ICD-10-CM, HCPCS Level II, NCCI edits, modifiers, compliance, technology, practice management, and more
*CEUs available with select eNewsletters.

Other Articles in this issue of

Pulmonology Coding Alert

View All