removal of ring

[rhblevins61@yahoo.com]

Need other's opinions. Finger is iced and a Dremel tool is used to cut ring off swelling finger. Is this procedure included in E/M?

Thanks for any help.

[jettman]

Originally Posted by rhblevins61@yahoo.com

Need other's opinions. Finger is iced and a Dremel tool is used to cut ring off swelling finger. Is this procedure included in E/M?

Thanks for any help.

I think you're correct. Since the ring isn't imbedded in the sub-Q tissues, you'd be hard-pressed to find an "incision and removal of foreign body" code.

If the ED physician did a digital block, you could most likely code for that as well as the E/M.

[tadcox]

"Non-incisional removal of a foreign body from the skin and subcutaneous tissue is considered to be part of the E&M code and is not reported separately"- from 3M

Hope this helps!