Wiki Billing Levels for 63265

[Lwright01]

My surgeon want to bill 3 levels for 63265. Per my experience there is no additional code you can use. I thought 63265 covers all levels. Can someone please help me. I need to explain this to him correctly if this is true.
He did a laminectomy for epidural abscess C3-C7 unilateral for abscess.

Thanks in advance

 

[SharonCollachi]

The definition says "for excision or evacuation of intraspinal lesion..." This leads me to believe that it is per lesion, not per level, or it would say per level.

Here is what Spineline has to say (click for link to article): The codes 63265 thru 63268 refer to benign lesions. Examples of pathology include a lumbar facet cyst, epidural hematoma and epidural abscess. In cases where compression of the neural elements is symptomatic, laminectomy would be required to evacuate the pathology. These codes are also regional, meaning that they are multilevel and can only be used once per operative session.

 

[Lwright01]

Thanks Sharon i meant to say per lesion.

 

[SharonCollachi]

The patient has three separate, distinct lesions??? In any case, it's still multilevel per the notation above, and can only be coded once per session.