General Surgery Coding Alert
No Fee Schedule Yet for Sentinel Node Code
Anonymous Oregon Subscriber
Answer: In the January 1999 Medicare bulletin issued by the carrier in your state, you will find a list of procedures for which Medicare does not yet have a fee schedule. You are correct: 38792 (injection procedure; for identification of sentinel node) is one of the codes on that list, says Kathleen Mueller, RN, CPC, CCS-P, an independent general surgery coding specialist in Lenzburg, Ill. The bulletin goes on to state, however, that providers should go ahead and bill the 38792, wait for the denial and then forward the operative report because this report has a mandated review prior to payment.
General Surgery Coding Alert
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No Fee Schedule Yet for Sentinel Node Code
Question: In the December 1999 General Surgery Coding Alert on page 41, code 38792 for [...]
