General / Hot Coding Topics

3 FAQs Banish Your Coding Frustrations on Vaginal Cuff Repair

Find out what colporrhaphy code you’ll use for an injury repair.

If you’re stuck trying to figure out what code to use for a vaginal cuff repair, you should ask yourself one main question: Why did the ob-gyn need to perform the repair?  The answer is the best way to decide what code (and possibly modifiers) to choose.  Follow these three expert steps, and you’ll find the solution to one of the most frequently asked questions in an ob-gyn office: “Which CPT® code should I use for repair of vaginal cuff?”

Q1: How Do I Decide What Repair Code to Use?

The first thing you should do when the ob-gyn performs a vaginal cuff repair is examine the operative report to determine why the patient required the repair, says Cindy Foley, Billing Manager for three separate gynecology practices in Syracuse, N.Y.

Q2: If Repair Dealt With Loose Sutures, What Should I Do?

You read your op notes and discovered the vaginal cuff repair dealt with loose sutures.  Suppose the patient, who underwent a total abdominal hysterectomy (58150, Total abdominal hysterectomy corpus and cervix], with or without removal of tube[s],with or  without removal of ovary[s]), needs to return to the operating room for a vaginal cuff repair because the original sutures became loose and a simple re-closure is documented.  In this case, you should report 58999 (Unlisted procedure, female genital system [nonobstetrical]). You would also need to submit your op report along with a cover letter that explains in simple, straightforward language exactly what your ob-gyn did, says Melanie Witt, RN, COBGC, MA, an ob-gyn coding expert based in Guadalupita, N.M.

Remember to explicitly reference the nearest equivalent listed procedure in your explanatory note. For example, you might consider comparing the work to 12020 (Treatment of superficial wound dehiscence; simple closure), which...

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June 8, 2011
Coder's Cranium / General

Learn the Keys to Properly Coding MACE, Mitrofanoff, and More

You’ll be able to report anastomosis with some procedures and not others.

If your urologist sees pediatric patients you may occasionally run across some procedures that you’re not used to coding.  When your urologist performs a Malone antegrade colonic enema (MACE), a Mitrofanoff procedure, or a Monti procedure, you might be left scratching your head over the proper code choice.  Follow this expert guidance to ensure you’re reporting the proper codes for every pediatric surgery your urologist performs.

Differentiate MACE and Mitrofanoff Before Coding

The MACE and Mitrofanoff procedures are similar, as both are used mainly in pediatric patients and involve similar anatomy, which makes coding for them a challenge.

MACE: For the MACE procedure, the physician uses the appendix or other small section of bowel to create an opening attached to the skin (a cutaneous stoma) to be used to irrigate antegrade with a catheter fecal matter from the colon.  “The MACE is generally a pediatric procedure used on children, but could also be used on adults, with chronic constipation or fecal incontinence.  Usually these diagnoses are found in children who are born with spina bifida or other neurological abnormalities,” explains Janell Glascock, CCS, CPMA, certified coding specialist for the Indiana University Health Physicians, Urology Department in Indianapolis.

For the MACE procedure you will first report 50845 (Cutaneous appendico-vesicostomy), says Christy Shanley, CPC, billing manager for the University of California, Irvine Department of Urology. Append modifier 52 (Reduced services) because the urologist is doing part of an appendicovesicostomy (isolating the appendix but doesn’t remove it from the large bowel).  Then, report 44680-51 (Intestinal plication [separate procedure]; multiple procedures) for the plication of the bowel, Shanley says.

Mitrofanoff: “The Mitrofanoff [procedure] can also use the appendix, or other small bowel if the appendix is not available, and attaches...

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May 20, 2011
Coder's Cranium / ICD-9

Collect HPV Pay with Proper Screening vs. Reflex Diagnoses

Align ‘medical necessity’ with ICD-9 instruction.

Ordering a human papillomavirus (HPV) screen with a Pap test isn’t the same as ordering a reflex HPV screen following an abnormal Pap. Although ICD-9 instruction and coverage rules might appear to be at loggerheads, our experts can show you the way out.

Question: Should the physician order a screening and/or reflex HPV Pap test (such as 87621, Infectious agent detection by nucleic acid [DNA or RNA]; papillomavirus, human, amplified probe technique) with V73.81 (Special screening examination for human papillomavirus [HPV])?

What you stand to gain: “Many ‘V’ codes are paid as part of a screening benefit for patients who have those specific benefits,” says Tina Burkhalter, billing manager with SouthEastern Pathology in Rome, Ga. On the other hand,

“tests ordered with diagnostic codes tend to go to the deductible,” she says. “We hear from patients complaining that they must pay for the HPV test because their insurer tells them we used the ‘wrong’ code.”

Medical Necessity Points to 795.0x

Although no national coverage policy exists for screening HPV testing to evaluate cervical cancer risk, many payers follow the consensus guidelines recommended by the American Society for Colposcopy and Cervical Pathology (ASCCP).

A core ASCCP recommendation is to screen for high-risk HPV DNA in patients over the age of 20 years with a Pap cytologic result of 795.01 (Papanicolaou smear of cervix with atypical squamous cells of undetermined significance [ASC-US]). The guidelines also address the role of HPV with other Pap outcomes in special populations, such as recommending reflex HPV testing for postmenopausal women with cytologic findings of 795.03 (Papanicolaou smear of cervix with low grade squamous intraepithelial lesion [LGSIL]).

Key: If your payers have adopted any or all of these guidelines, you’ll need to report the Pap findings, such as 795.01, to show...

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June 10, 2010
Hot Coding Topics

Medical Coders: Here’s Your 411 on Femoral Head Resurfacing

Understand what FHR involves and when patients benefit.

An initial femoral head resurfacing (FHR) procedure involves only the femoral head and not the acetabular socket of the hip joint. The surgeon mills the femoral head and implants a metal hemisphere over the bone that exactly matches the size of the original femoral head.

FHR helps “buy time” for patients whose disease or degree of progression doesn’t merit total hip replacement (27130, Arthroplasty, acetabular and proximal femoral prosthetic replacement [total hip arthroplasty], with or without autograft or allograft).

This is especially true for younger patients because femoral head resurfacing preserves more bone stock for possible later revisions.

Judy Larson, CPC, billing manager for Rockford Orthopedic Associates in Rockford, Ill., shares a few advantages of choosing FHR:

  • Patients are likely to recover a natural gait
  • The larger size of the implant (ball) reduces the risk of dislocation
  • The femoral head/canal is preserved
  • There’s no associated femoral bone loss with future revision
  • Patients can experience less thigh pain because hip stress transfers in a natural way along the femoral canal and through the femur’s head and neck.

The metal head used during FHR will wear out the socket over time, however, and the patient will need total hip replacement.

Once the patient reaches the point of total hip replacement you’ll code the new procedure as a conversion with 27132 (Conversion of previous hip surgery to total hip arthroplasty, with or without autograft or allograft), says Heidi Stout, CPC, CCS-P, director of orthopedic coding services at The Coding Network.

@ Orthopedic Coding Alert. Editor: Leigh DeLozier, CPC

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June 1, 2010
CMS / Hot Coding Topics / MAC

Medical Office Billing: 7 Ways to Escape Computer Claim Casualties

Pay attention to EOBs and keep talking to your MAC. You could be losing money to a computer glitch and not know it, experts say. If you don’t nip a computer glitch in the bud, you may be plagued with improper denials and other claim holdups. Here are seven things you can do to seek out and [...] Related articles:

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October 21, 2009