Reporting Excision or Destruction of Cutaneous Lesions and Histopathologic Examination (August 2021)

Why This Topic Matters

The article addresses a common source of confusion in dermatology and pathology billing: when tissue handling is included in the lesion procedure versus when pathology is reported separately. It helps readers understand the scope of the CPT guidance surrounding skin lesion treatment and surgical pathology specimen coding.

Article Sections

1. Reporting Excision or Destruction of Cutaneous Lesions and Histopathologic Examination

   Introduces the topic, explains the coding confusion being addressed, and frames the discussion around lesion treatment and pathology reporting under CPT 2021.

2. Lesion Treatment by Excision Technique

   Summarizes the general CPT approach to excision of cutaneous lesions and the related code families used for benign and malignant lesion excision.

3. Coding Tip

   Provides a high-level explanation of how excision coding is approached based on lesion characteristics and documentation context.

4. Lesion Treatment by Destruction Technique

   Reviews the CPT framework for destruction of cutaneous lesions and the associated code families for different lesion categories and body locations.

5. Surgical Pathology

   Describes the structure of surgical pathology reporting, specimen-based reporting concepts, and the CPT code family used for gross and microscopic examination services.

6. Coding Tip

   Explains, at a general level, the relationship between tissue submission from lesion procedures and separate pathology reporting.

7. Example 1: Benign Lesion Excision and Histopathologic Examination

   Presents a benign lesion scenario showing how the excision and resulting pathology review are discussed in the article.

8. Example 2: Malignant Excision and Histopathologic Examination

   Presents a malignant excision scenario and the associated pathology review discussed in the article.

9. Example 3: Malignant Lesion Destruction and Histopathologic Examination

   Presents a destruction scenario involving histopathologic review and discusses how the article frames the related reporting considerations.