tci General Surgery Coding Alert - 2013 Issue 5

Reader Question: Distinguish Laparoscopic, Open Codes

Question: How should we report the procedure when our surgeon performs laparoscopic closure of two intestinal fistulae? Nevada Subscriber Answer: You should report two units of 44238 (Unlisted laparoscopy procedure, intestine [except rectum]). You can generally report 44238x2, although some payers may prefer that you report each code on a separate claim line and list the second procedure with modifier 59 (Distinct procedural service). Although CPT provides a specific code for intestinal fistula closure, you can’t use it, because it describes an open procedure and you specified that the surgeon performed a laparoscopic procedure. The open code is...

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.