Wiki Ingrowing Nail Procedure

[elizabeth24]

Patient has an ingrowing toe nail. The physician numbed the toe, used a tool to life the toenail slightly and put gauze under the nail to keep it lifted slightly. I don't see any CPT codes that fit this, so maybe we can't charge a procedure for this. Anyone have any ideas? Thanks in advance!!

 

[podcoder70]

Perhaps the doctor is missing some documentation. Pretty unusual to have to anesthetize to simply "lift" the nail. Check with the provider to see if he/she actually cut back some of that nail plate. Then you can bill 11730. If they clipped some nail, 11719. If none of this was done then I don't believe there is an appropriate code.

 

[OpenClaims]

Was lidocaine used for the numbing? You can only bill for this through IV administration. Local anesthetic is considered inclusive to the procedure.