Dermatology Coding Alert

Published on Wed Feb 18, 2015 PDF

Check out these scenarios, then check our expert answers.

For a patient, a wart can be as unsightly as an unsuccessful claim is to a coder. How are your wart removal coding skills? Take a look at these scenarios, then compare your answers with our experts’.

Question 1: A dermatologist removes plantar wart approximately 5mm in diameter. He initially shaves the lesion and then cauterizes it with silver nitrate. He finally injects it with .01 ml of Candida skin test antigen. What CPT® code(s) should you report for the procedure?

A. 11305
B. 11900
C. 17110
D. 11305, 11900, 17110

Question 2: A dermatologist sees a patient with suspected malignant growths on the right toe and left foot. She diagnoses three lesions as warts and finds two suspected malignancy sites. She performs excision through electrocautery for the three warts and takes biopsy samples from the other two sites with partial removal. How should you code this?

A. 17110 x 3
B. 17110 x 3, 11100 x 2
C. 17110, 11100 x 2
D. 17110, 11100, 11101

Question 3: In the ICD-10 coding system, what is the diagnosis code for a plantar wart?

A. 078.12
B. B07.0
C. B07.8
D. B07.9

Question 4: A dermatologist injects four warts five times each. You would report:

A. 11900
B. 11900 x 2
C. 11900 x 5
D. 11900 x 10.