Wiki Anastomosis surgical margins

[annettebec]

How would you code out Specimen B.
Specimen A is a resection colon, malignant 88309
Specimen B is a anastomosis surgical margin

Any help appreciated

 

[danachock]

Hi annettebec,
88305 - the primary specimen is malignant; I don't have your pathology report, but I am confident that your pathologist embedded the entire specimen for review to confirm the margin was "free of malignancy". Did you only receive one specimen for Specimen B? I typically received two - one with ink, a stitch or possibly two stitches to differentiate the location for pathological review. If I had received two specimens and can distinctly identify one specimen from the other - I would have billed 88305x2 for Specimen B.
Thank you for listening and have a wonderful evening,
Dana Chock, CPC, CANPC, CHONC, CPMA, CPB, RHIT

 

[annettebec]

I would assign 88305. Thank you for the confirmation. Annette