tci General Surgery Coding Alert - 2004 Issue 8

Reader Question: Check Report Before Selecting Benign or Malignant

Question: When coding removal of a skin lesion, how do I know if I should select the benign or malignant code? Texas SubscriberAnswer: You should never "guess" whether a skin lesion the surgeon has removed is malignant or benign. Rather, you should wait for the pathology report to return before selecting the appropriate code. For example, the surgeon removes a 4.5-cm lesion (including margins) from the patient's left shoulder. Depending on the status of the lesion (benign or malignant), the possible code choices include either 11406 (Excision, benign lesion including margins, except skin tag [unless listed elsewhere], trunk...

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