You Be the Coder:
Partial vs. Total Ethmoidectomy
Published on Tue Aug 01, 2000
Test your coding knowledge. Determine how you would code this situation before looking at the box below for the answer.
Question: How would you code a right-side nasal sinus endoscopy with total ethmoidectomy, plus a left-side endoscopy with partial ethmoidectomy?
Hawaii Subscriber
Answer: When a physician performs a partial ethmoidectomy on the left side and a total ethmoidectomy on the right side of a patient, both procedures should be billed, says Susan Callaway-Stradley, CPC, CCS-P, a coding and reimbursement specialist in North Augusta, S.C. The correct manner in which to bill these two procedures would be code 31255-RT (nasal/sinus endoscopy, surgical; with ethmoidectomy, total [anterior and posterior]; right side) and 31254-LT (nasal/sinus endoscopy, surgical; with ethmoidectomy, partial [anterior]; left side). Some carriers may not recognize -LT and -RT modifiers, and may use them for informational purposes only, but not for overriding bundling edits. Therefore, modifier -59 (distinct procedural service) should be attached to the 31254 and read as follows: 31255-RT, 31254-59-LT. However coded, you can expect the second procedure to be reduced by 50 percent.