tci General Surgery Coding Alert - 2012 Issue 6

Reader Question: Remember 19102 Ancillary Services

Question: The surgeon performs two breast needle core biopsies under fluoroscopic guidance in the hospital setting, one from the left and one from the right breast. The procedure includes placing a localization clip in each breast to mark lesion location. The surgeon closes the two surgical fields and sends the samples to pathology. How should we code the procedure?Louisiana SubscriberAnswer: You should report the primary procedure as 19102 (Biopsy of breast; percutaneous, needle core, using imaging guidance). Append modifier 50 (Bilateral procedure) since your surgeon performed a biopsy on each breast.Additionally, you can report 77002 (Fluoroscopic guidance...

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