Urology Coding Alert

Automatically appending modifier 52 could be costing you hundreds. When your urologist works with another physician during a procedure, you may face major coding challenges. If you don’t coordinate your coding with the other physician’s coder, both doctors could lose money and face audits. Learn how to correctly code for these shared procedures with this real-world case study.   Review the Surgical Case   Scenario: A urologist and a general surgeon performed surgery on a patient. The urologist did an orchiopexy and performed the opening and closing. The general surgeon performed an inguinal hernia repair. Coding dilemma: Betsie Ortiz, CPC, professional fee coordinator and charge capture surgery team lead at University of Washington Physicians urology department in Seattle, who presented this case study, wonders which codes each physician should report, and which modifiers coders should append.   No Bundle Means 2 Codes   CPT and the Correct Coding Initiative (CCI) [...]