Question: What codes would you use for lower anterior resection with anal anastomosis and divered ileostomy with mobilization of splenic flexure, which was converted to an open procedure? Answer: You’ll report the open procedure codes for this case. ...
Did you factor in a foreign body removal code?
Question: During an open hernia repair for a reducible umbilical hernia, the surgeon finds a sizeable gallstone embedded in the omentum extending into the preperitoneal fat. The surgeon excises the...
Watch frequency and provide documentation to rationalize extra pay.
Applying modifier 22 (Increased procedural services) can help increase reimbursement if your neurosurgeon documents a greater-than-usual effort during a surgical service. To ensure your claims’ success, surgeons and coders must also...
Make sure your documentation supports the additional substantial complexity of the hernia repair and mesh.
Question: A patient presented for a colectomy for colon cancer. The physician also discovered that the patient had a ventral incarcerated hernia that required a…
Improve your reimbursement chances by applying modifier 58 in this situation. When your surgeon targets the brain or spine with stereotactic radiosurgery (also called gamma knife surgery) to treat multiple lesions over multiple sessions, you need to know two crucial things: what stereotactic radiosurgery codes to use and how many units to include. Take this three-question challenge [...] Related articles:
This aspect of op note coding is the “horse that pulls the cart.” Stuck on how to tackle this op note or those sitting on your desk? Follow this advice, provided by Melanie Witt, RN, CPC, COBGC, MA, an ob-gyn coding expert based in Guadalupita, N.M. and co-presenter of the “Ob-Gyn Op Notes” session at the [...] Related articles:
Discover these subsequent reconstruction codes. Question: The surgeon treated a patient with a large choledochal cyst. The procedure involved an open cholecystectomy with en bloc excision of extrahepatic bile ducts (roux-en-Y reconstruction) with hepaticojejunostomy. What are the correct CPT and ICD-9 codes? Answer: The correct ICD-9 code will depend on whether the patient has an acquired [...] Related articles:
Tumor excision codes get specific. Will surgical oncology practices take a reimbursement hit? We’re starting to learn what new CPT codes we’ll be using come January 1, 2010. Coding News will keep you posted over the coming weeks, along with analysis from coding experts around the country so that you know what to expect for your practice’s [...] Related articles: