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Podiatry Coding & Billing Alert

Mythbuster:

Expose the Truth About Shaving of Lesion Codes

Published on Mon Jul 05, 2010

Measuring the lesion's margin gives you no advantage.Rules that apply for lesion excision codes (11400-11646) may not necessarily work for shaving of epidermal or dermal lesions codes (11300-11313). You may even confuse 11300-11313 with a biopsy code.Test yourself with the validity of the following facts, and be able to identify the codes properly.Consider Depth to Distinguish ShavingTrue or false: To differentiate between shaving (11300-11313) and excision (11400-11646), you should first look at the removal's depth.Answer: True. Anytime the physician removes skin tissue, he's performing an "excision." For coding purposes, however, CPT narrowly defines an excision as involving "fullthickness (through the dermis) removal of a lesion." Shaving, by comparison, involves "sharp removal ... without a full-thickness dermal excision."Shaving implies a superficial removal, says John F. Bishop, PA-C, CPC, MS, CWS, president of Tampa, Fla.-based Bishop and Associates. In some cases, the physician may remove the raised portion of a benign lesion [...]
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