tci General Surgery Coding Alert - 2000 Issue 4

Medical Necessity Required to Correctly Bill Appendectomy Add-on Code

General surgeons may face difficulties getting reimbursed when they perform an appendectomy (44955) at the same time as another unrelated procedure. But they can bill for the appendectomy as a primary procedure as long as there is a documented problem with the appendix and the other procedure doesnt relate directly to the right colon.Finding appendicitis in a patient during the course of another procedure is not a common occurrence. More frequently, a patient may have a bowel obstruction and appendicitisin fact, the appendicitis may be the cause of the bowel obstructionbut if the obstruction requires a right colectomy...

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