tci General Surgery Coding Alert - 2019 Issue 3

Reader Question: Look for Separate Appendectomy

Question: While performing an open gallbladder removal, the surgeon noted localized peritonitis associated with acute appendicitis. The surgeon then removed the appendix. Is the appendectomy bundled with the gallbladder removal for coding purposes? Tennessee Subscriber Answer: You can separately code the cholecystectomy and the appendectomy in this case. Although you must bundle “incidental” appendectomy with other abdominal procedures, you can separately bill the appendix removal in many cases when the surgeon notes distinct pathology. Report this case as 47600 (Cholecystectomy) and +44955 (Appendectomy; when done for indicated purpose at time of other major procedure (not as separate procedure)...

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.