MedAbbrev, now by innoviHealth, has been the industry standard for medical abbreviations and acronyms since 1983. Quick and easy access for hospitals, providers, coders, transcriptionists, students and researchers to over 75,000 entries. With clear and accurate standardization that is always current, medical professionals can reduce the chance of error stemming from misunderstood abbreviations.
tci General Surgery Coding Alert - 2021 Issue Q3
Reader Questions: Halt Modifier 63 With Infant Cutdown
Question: Our surgeon attempted percutaneous venipuncture for a 2 months old infant weighing 7.8 pound, but was unable to obtain access to the femoral vein, so proceeded to a cutdown. Can we bill both the venipuncture and the cutdown, and should we use modifier 63?
Washington Subscriber
Answer: You should code this case as 36420 (Venipuncture, cutdown; younger than age 1 year). The code describes a procedure where the provider makes an open incision to obtain access to a vein, usually because the patient is so young that the physician cannot obtain intravenous access with a percutaneous stick...
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: