tci General Surgery Coding Alert - 2021 Issue Q2

Reader Questions: Decipher Breast Note for ‘Wide Excision’

Question: I’m coding an op report and the surgeon describes the breast procedure as “wide excision.” The report mentions margin excision, but not lymph nodes. Could you help me decipher if this is a biopsy or mastectomy or something else, and what code I might use for the procedure? Nebraska Subscriber Answer: Without reading the entire op note, it appears that the procedure is 19301 (Mastectomy, partial (eg, lumpectomy, tylectomy, quadrantectomy, segmentectomy)). Clues: The fact that the report mentions margin excision points to the mastectomy codes rather than breast biopsy codes. A biopsy involves sampling a...

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.