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Wiki Dermabond laceration repair

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chenson384

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The urgent care walk-in clinic in our company uses Dermabond routinely and it is quite expensive. I have not found a laceration repair code that is not specific to the use of sutures, staples.

Is the use of Dermabond inclusive of the office visit, we have been billing or is there a procedure code I have overlooked?
 
Read your CPT Guidelines for Repair(Closure)

Read the guidelines in your CPT manual (2011 Professional edition, published by AMA, pg 64).

Tissue adhesive (i.e. Dermabond) is specificall mentioned as a method of repair. (NOT to be confused with adhesive strips .)

Hope that helps.

F Tessa Bartels, CPC, CEMC
 
I agree with the above post:

The coding guidelines for lacerations repair (above code 12001), 1st paragraph, states that you can use the laceration rapair codes for "wound closure utilizing sutures, staples, or tissue adhesive". This includes dermabond and excludes steri-strips.
 
Dermabond

If a Medicare claim use HCPCS G0168 which reports skin closures using adhesives (such as Dermabond). Other third-party payers use the simple repair code to report skin closures using adhesives but some will allow the HCPCS code too. You are right this stuff is not inexpensive, so try and bill to other third party payers and see what happens.
 
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