tci General Surgery Coding Alert - 2006 Issue 3

Reader Questions: Unrelated Venous Access Calls for 79

Question: The patient underwent colectomy to remove cancerous tissue. During the procedures- global period, the surgeon placed venous access for chemotherapy. Which modifier is correct for the venous access procedure, 58, 78 or 79?Maine Subscriber Answer: You are correct to assume that you need a modifier when reporting a different procedure during the global period of the colectomy (such as 44140, Colectomy, partial; with anastomosis).In this case, you should report the appropriate venous access code (for instance, 36555, Insertion of non-tunneled centrally inserted central venous catheter; under 5 years of age) and append modifier 79 (Unrelated procedure...

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