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Pathology/Lab Coding Alert

Surgical Pathology:

88305, 88307: Snatch Appropriate Lymph Node Pay With These 4 Tips

Published on Mon Aug 08, 2011

Know when to bundle and when to separately code.If you get cold feet about separately charging for lymph nodes taken at the time of a larger resection, you're not alone. Unclear bundling rules make plenty of coders live by "better safe than sorry," and leave legitimate lymph node pay on the table. Let our experts walk you through four guidelines to determine when you can separately bill lymph node(s), and which code(s) you should report.Remember: When conditions warrant separately charging for lymph nodes, you should choose the proper code from the following three options:88305 -- Level IV -- Surgical pathology, gross and microscopic examination, lymph node, biopsy88307 -- Level V -- Surgical pathology, gross and microscopic examination, lymph nodes, regional resection88307 -- ... sentinel lymph node.Tip 1: Sentinel Nodes Stand Alone"A sentinel lymph node never has to be bundled with the primary specimen," says Dennis Padget, MBA, CPA, FHFMA, president of DLPadget Enterprises Inc. and [...]
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