Question: Sometimes there is incorrect billing pertaining to the CPT® codes and ICD-9 codes billed, according to the documentation from the operative report. There is contact made to have them verify and correct, but corrections are not always followed by the other office. In an effort to get the claim submitted in a timely matter I have submitted the claim for my doctor as the assistant. I have done it in two ways: 1) submitted as billed by the other office and urologist, making notes on the account for the errors/problems and 2) submitting the claim with the correct billing information. What is the correct way to handle this problem? New York Subscriber Answer: Your practice of contacting the other surgeon's coder and trying to explain why you will be submitting different coding is a good start. If they don't agree or follow through with the proper coding, however, you should still submit the codes you believe are correct. "I encountered this all of the time when I had my billing company," says Barbara J. Cobuzzi, MBA, CPC, CENTC, CPCH, CPC-P, CPC-I, CHCC, president of CRN Healthcare Solutions, a consulting firm in Tinton Falls, N.J. "I, like the writer, would contact the primary surgeon and tell them that they coded the case incorrectly and tell them how it should be coded and why. They would not want to listen to me ... they submitted it their way. But I would not submit the coding wrong for my doctor. That is a compliance violation," she adds. Tip: You won't likely know what the other urologist ends up submitting or if they get paid -- but it's not really your concern, Cobuzzi explains. As long as you are compliant and bringing in the reimbursement your surgeon deserves, you're doing your job correctly. Warning: "We got paid," Cobuzzi says. "Not always the first pass, sometimes it required sending in the documentation with an appeal. I would appeal with my documentation and show that my coding was correct." Bottom line: