General Surgery Coding Alert
Complications During a Procedure
Delaware Subscriber
Answer: The introduction to the national Correct Coding Initiative, page 3, paragraph 10, states: When a complication described by codes defining complications arises during an operative session ... it is incorrect to report a separate service for treating such complications. An operative session ends upon release from the operating room. Therefore, no separate code should be reported for the repair of a laceration or for treating any other complication during a procedure. If repairing the complication requires significant additional work, some surgeons append the original procedure with modifier -22 (unusual procedural services).
General Surgery Coding Alert
- Differentiate Thoracic Procedures To Ensure Proper Payment
Coding for thoracic procedures involving thoracotomy, which requires opening the patient's chest, and thoracoscopy, a [...] - Office Protocols Ensure Proper Billing Procedures
Surgery practices require protocols that guide the entire coding, billing and reimbursement process. Such protocols [...] - You Be the Coder:
Modified Radical Mastectomy
Test your coding knowledge. Determine how you would code this situation before looking at the [...] - Reader Question:
Placement of Metallic Localization Clip
Question: When is it appropriate to report 19295?
Tennessee Subscriber
Answer: The CPT 2002 manual introduces add-on [...] - Reader Question:
Insertion of J-P Drain
Question: The patient had partial mastectomy with axillary lymph node dissection. Six months later, she [...] - Reader Question:
Atypical Hyperplasia of Breast
Question: I have been using ICD-9 code 611.1 for atypical hyperplasia of the breast, but [...] - Reader Question:
Complications During a Procedure
Question: During lysis of adhesions, the patients bowel was inadvertently nicked. Should we report this [...] - Reader Question:
Excision of Single Varicose Vein
Question: The surgeon notes a 5-mm well-circumscribed blue firm mass palpable within the varicose vein [...] - Reader Question:
Tourniquet Time and Modifier -22
Question: We did a below-knee amputation on a patient. The operative report states that the [...] - Reader Question:
Axillary Lump Diagnosis
Question: I cannot find a diagnosis code that accurately reports an axillary lump. Should 611.72 [...] - Correction:
Mammograms
General Surgery Coding Alert, October 2001, page 77, notes that three new ICD-9 mammogram codes [...]
