Wiki 63030 vs 63047

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When the procedure is for a disc herniation it's 63030. When it's for stenosis it's 63047. Of course this is depending on what was done, these are the most common lumbar ones but there are other discectomy and lami codes to keep in mind.

This was a different question but the concept is the same: https://www.aaos.org/aaosnow/2014/oct/managing/managing1/
Diskectomy and stenosis procedures
Q: The surgeon performed a laminectomy, facetectomy, foraminotomy, and decompression at L4-5 for a diagnosis of spinal stenosis. A laminectomy with diskectomy and decompression was also documented at L5-S1 for a diagnosis of protruded lumbar disk. Should the second-level surgery (L5-S1) be reported with the add-on code 63048? Or should a second primary code (63030) be reported for the diskectomy at L5-S1?

A: These procedure codes are directly related to the diagnosis. CPT code 63047 is reported for the surgery at L4-5 linked to the stenosis diagnosis. CPT code 63047 is a unilateral/bilateral code and is reported one time per lumbar level.

The surgery at L5-S1 is reported as 63030-59 to indicate a distinct procedure was performed at a different level and is linked to a disk diagnosis. CPT code 63030 is considered a unilateral procedure and may be reported bilaterally when the surgeon performs a right and left diskectomy. Do not confuse the coding of these procedures; they are diagnosis-driven CPT codes.

This is really old but the second response has a great explanation: https://www.aapc.com/discuss/threads/63030-vs-63047-hemilaminectomy.20293/
 
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