tci General Surgery Coding Alert - 2002 Issue 3

Reader Question: Bypass Graft

Question: The surgeon performed a right common femoral artery to left common femoral artery bypass graft. The surgeons nurse coded the procedure 35661; a certified consultant coded it 35286. Who is correct?     Missouri Subscriber  Answer: It seems as if the nurse is right.  The surgeon performed a bypass graft, not a graft repair. A bypass graft creates a new vessel that connects the two femoral arteries; a vessel repair with graft is similar to putting a patch on a leaky tire.  Thus, 35661 (Bypass graft, with other than vein; femoral-femoral) should...

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.