CCI 19.0: 32556: Navigate Pleural Drainage Bundles and More

Why This Topic Matters

CCI edits can change whether services are separately reportable, so understanding the new bundling landscape helps coding staff assess claim risk and avoid inappropriate reporting. The article is relevant to general surgeons, surgery coders, and billing professionals tracking Medicare edit changes tied to CPT revisions.

Article Sections

1. Count Intraoperative Services as Included

   Discusses new CCI edit pairs tied to newly introduced CPT 2013 surgical codes and the types of ancillary services involved. It also notes the presence of modifier indicators on some edits.

2. Note that Blood Vessel Repair Includes Transcatheter Therapy

   Covers additional CCI pairings involving transcatheter therapy and several vascular and device-related procedures. It also mentions mutually exclusive relationships involving related therapy services.

3. Avoid Pleural Drainage With Thoracic Procedures

   Reviews CCI edit pairs involving new pleural drainage codes and multiple thoracic, mediastinal, diaphragmatic, and esophageal procedure groupings. The section also includes related chest wall tumor excision pairings.

4. Bundle Endoscopy With Optical Microscopy

   Describes edit pairs involving new upper gastrointestinal endoscopy-related codes and other esophageal or gastric procedures. It emphasizes the broader grouping of procedures covered by the edits.