tci General Surgery Coding Alert - 2001 Issue 10

Reader Question: Bilateral Ligation of Temporal Artery

Question: My surgeon frequently performs bilateral ligations or biopsies of the temporal artery. Although 37609 does not indicate multiple arteries, according to the CMS fee schedule it cannot be billed bilaterally. How should I code this to get reimbursed for both sides? Indiana Subscriber  Answer: Temporal artery ligations are typically performed with biopsy. Such biopsies are usually performed when the patient has pain in the temple or blindness in an eye and, therefore, most surgeons perform them on one side (the symptomatic, or ipsilateral side) only.  If the surgeons documentation shows the medical necessity for performing the...

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.