tci General Surgery Coding Alert - 2004 Issue 3

You Be the Coder: Is Biopsy Included in Lobectomy?

Question: The surgeon took a wedge biopsy of the lung and sent it to pathology. The biopsy was positive for malignancy, and the surgeon performed a lobectomy. Should I could for both the biopsy and lobectomy, or only for the lobectomy?Maine Subscriber Answer: In this case, you may report both the wedge biopsy (32500, Removal of lung, other than total pneumonectomy; wedge resection, single or multiple) and the subsequent lobectomy (32480, ... single lobe [lobectomy]). Rules outlined in the narrative portion of the National Correct Coding Initiative (NCCI) state, "When, in the course of a procedure, a non-diagnostic...

To read the full article, sign in and subscribe to tci General Surgery Coding Alert.


Leverage vital, to-the-point monthly guidance to boost your reporting accuracy and your coding know-how. We make it convenient for your team to stay informed, compliant, and profitable with a subscription to TCI’s General Surgery Coding Alert.

  • Current newsletters added each month
  • Fully searchable archives - over 2100 articles
  • ALL years/issues back to 1999 organized by year and issue
  • Codes mentioned in articles are linked to Code Information pages
  • Code Information pages link back to related articles
Access to this feature is available in the following products:
  • tci General Surgery Coding Alert +Archives

demo
request yours today
 subscribe
start today
 newsletter
free subscription

Thank you for choosing Find-A-Code, please Sign In to remove ads.