tci General Surgery Coding Alert - 2000 Issue 6

Clarification: Breast Lump Diagnosis

"In the You Be the Coder answer on page 45 of the May general surgery coding Alert, a surgeon sees a patient sent by a primary-care physician (PCP) with what the PCP feels is a palpable breast mass. The mammograms and ultrasound came back negative, and examination revealed no masses and only normal breast tissue. The question was: Which diagnosis code should the surgeon use?Our answer, 782.2 (localized superficial swelling, mass or lump), has been questioned by some readers, who feel that code 611.72 (lump or mass in breast) would be more appropriate. Two readers note...

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