Wiki When to code harvest for skin grafts

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kseifert

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1.)When a free skin graft is performed and no repair is done on donor site. I don't code harvest. Correct?

2.)If a harvest done on one day, sent to lab for further growth, and grafted on the patient on another date, would I have a harvest code with modifier -58, and a graft code?

Thanks,
Karen S
 
Grafts & Harvest

Q 1) You are correct

Q 2) The 58 modifier is used on the subsequent procedure when performed within the global period of the earlier procedure.

Hope that helps.
F Tessa Bartels, CPC, CEMC
 
Skin Grafts

Skin grafts are coded by the recipient site and include harvesting of the autograft.

The only time you would use CPT 15040 for harvesting skin would be when you are going to use that skin for tissue cultured skin autograft ,,, i.e. you are not immediately using the graft.

If the donor site requires a skin graft or local flap to repair the donor site, you can code those repairs separately.

Hope that helps.

F Tessa Bartels, CPC, CEMC
 
Harvesting Skin Graft

How to code for Dr. A who obtains the full thickness skin graft from the neck, for Dr. B to
perform the actual graft to the ear, in the same OR session.
Problem is that Dr. A is billing complex closure 13132, but Dr. B. will be billing for the ear graft. These are the codes billed by Dr. A:

21016 Resection for tumor (ear)
13132 Repair complex neck
38510 Bx/exc Lymph Deep Cervical (Upper Neck)
38510 Bx/exc Lymph Deep Cervical (Supraclavicular )
38900

It appears the medical necessity is missing for the 13132 without the harvesting code.
Can anyone advise me on this? I don't know the code Dr. B. will be using.
 
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