Wiki Biopsy/Lesion Removal

dballard2004

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If a pt comes in for removal of lesions and then a shave biopsy is performed, do you code for both of the removal and the biopsy or is one included in the other? Thanks.
 
If the only procedure that was done was the shave removal, that's all that's billed out. If you read under "Biopsy" in the CPT book, it says - During certain surgical procedures in the integumentary system, such as excision, destruction, or shave removals, the removed tissue is often submitted for pathologic examination. The obtaining of tissue for pathology during the course of the these procedures is a routine component of such procedures. This obtaining of tissue is not considered a separate biopsy procedure and is not separately reported.
it goes on to say more about when you can bill out a biopsy separately from and excision/destruction,etc.
{that's my opinion on the posted matter}
 
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