Podiatry Coding & Billing Alert

Reader Questions:

Full Thickness Determines Excision Type

Question: Our podiatrist has treated a patient for a plantar wart with debridement and freezing monthly for the last six months. The patient recently requested removal of the wart. The podiatrist documented that she used a scalpel to remove a full thickness 0.5 cm elliptical excision on the foot and removed the lesion with hyperkeratosis. The podiatrist suggests 11305, but I don't think that's right. How should I code this? North Carolina Subscriber Answer: The best code for the procedure you describe would be one from the Integumentary code range (11420-11426) depending on the lesion's size. Code 11420 (Excision, benign lesion including margins, except skin tag [unless listed elsewhere], scalp, neck, hands, feet, genitalia; excised diameter 0.5 cm or less) seems like a good bet. Code 11305 (Shaving of epidermal or dermal lesion, single lesion, scalp, neck, hands, feet, genitalia; lesion diameter 0.5 cm or less) is not correct because [...]
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