tci General Surgery Coding Alert - 2013 Issue 1

Reader Question: Avoid 62 with Unlisted Procedure

Question: How should we bill for a laparoscopic excision and closure of a colovesical fistula with two surgeons? Our surgeon performed the bladder side of the procedure, excising bladder tissue due to localized necrosis, followed by two-layer closure. Our surgeon then instilled saline to check for evidence of leaks. SuperCoder Subscriber Answer: Because there is not code for doing this procedure laparoscopically, you should report the service as 44238 (Unlisted laparoscopy procedure, intestine [except rectum]). Although you indicate that the procedure involved two surgeons, you should not try to use modifier 62 (Two surgeons), because most payers don’t...

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.