tci Outpatient Facility Coding Alert - 2013 Issue 7

You Be the Coder: Distinguishing Between Melanoma and Soft Tissue Tumors

Question: The surgeon re-excised a melanoma of the upper arm, removing a 2.9 cm lesion with 0.1 cm margins. The op note documents that the surgeon removed subcutaneous tissue down to, but not including, the fascia, and performed an intermediate repair. Should I code this as 24071?Illinois Subscriber Answer: No, 24071 (Excision, tumor, soft tissue of upper arm or elbow area, subcutaneous; 3 cm or greater) is not the correct code for this service.  Because this is a melanoma, you should not code the re-excision as a soft tissue tumor. Although they may become invasive...

To read the full article, sign in and subscribe to tci Outpatient Facility Coding Alert.


TCI's Outpatient Facility Coding Alert helps your facility stay profitable by covering issues that are important to you — everything from billing strategies and appropriate payment indicators to coding tips and tricks, analysis of industry trends, and so much more. Subscribe today and let our experts make your job easier.

  • Current newsletters added each month
  • Fully searchable archives - over 650 articles
  • ALL years/issues back to 2012 organized by year and issue
  • Codes mentioned in articles are linked to Code Information pages
  • Code Information pages link back to related articles

This feature is currently unavailable for online purchase. For more information, please call 801-770-4203 or Contact Us.

demo
request yours today
 subscribe
start today
 newsletter
free subscription

Thank you for choosing Find-A-Code, please Sign In to remove ads.