Oncology & Hematology Coding Alert

Think 'base of tongue' refers to the underside? Think again. Oral cancer is on the rise, so you'll need to be prepared to code cases that come into your practice. Put your best foot forward by boosting your tongue anatomy knowledge using our diagrams and refreshing your knowledge of when to use primary, secondary, andcarcinoma in situ codes. Primary Malignancy = Multiple 141.x Options A primary malignancy is one arising from the cells of the biopsied neoplasm, says Marcella Bucknam, CPC, CCS-P, CPC-H, CCS, CPC-P, COBGC, CCC, manager of compliance education for the University of Washington Physicians and Children's University Medical Group Compliance Program. Example: A biopsy shows that a male patient has a tongue neoplasm. It is malignant and comprises cancer cells from the area of excision (as opposed to cancer cells that originated elsewhere -- such as the lip -- and spread to the tongue). Code a primary tongue malignancy [...]