Pulmonology Coding Alert

Test your coding knowledge.  Determine how you would code this situation before looking at the box below for the answer.
Question: What is the correct code for a bilateral chest-tube insertion?

Texas Subscriber
  Answer: Chest-tube insertion is reported with  32020 (tube thoracostomy with or without water seal). This code is used when a trocar-guided chest tube is inserted into a pleural cavity through a space between the ribs. Once inserted, the trocar is withdrawn and the tube is sutured in place. The tube allows air and/or fluid to drain from the pleural space to promote lung re-expansion in a "collapsed" lung. When this procedure is performed bilaterally (one tube insertion is performed on the right and one on the left), report 32020 with modifier -50 (bilateral procedure). Code 32020-50 represents two chest-tube insertions.
 
Modifier -50 eliminates the need to report each service on a separate line of the claim form. Most often, you will be reimbursed through the multiple-procedure guidelines: 100 percent physician fee schedule for the first reported procedure, and 50 percent physician fee schedule for the second procedure.