Urology Coding Alert

Question: What diagnosis code should I use when the urologist is using robotic equipment for surgery? Delaware Subscriber Answer: The diagnosis for a procedure is always the reason or medical necessity for doing a procedure, no matter what surgical approach your urologist uses. How it works: If the physician does a robotic radical prostatectomy or an open retropubic radical prostatectomy, the diagnosis would always be prostatic carcinoma (185) for either procedure. Keep in mind: When your urologist performs a robotic (assisted) procedure for a non-Medicare carrier, you can add CPT code S2900 (Surgical techniques requiring use of robotic surgical system [List separately in addition to code for primary procedure]) to your procedure billing for the physician's use of the robotic technology. Medicare will not reimburse for S codes. However, many private payers, such as the Blues, may reimburse the physician for this code indicating his use of robotic technology. Example: [...]