tci General Surgery Coding Alert - 2000 Issue 1

New Codes Expand Billing for Laceration Repairs

" CPT 2000 introduced several add-on codes for the repair of lacerations. These codes may be confusing at first, but by using them properly surgeons can legally maximize their reimbursement for wound repairs.Until Jan. 1, 2000, general surgeons had to use one code (11330, now deleted) to describe any complex repair of lacerations of more than 7.5 cm. Consequently, whether the surgeon repaired a wound of eight or 18 centimeters, he or she was paid the same amount. Now, however, CPT 2000 has included four new add-on codes for such situations, says Kathleen Mueller, RN, CPC, CCS-P...

To read the full article, sign in and subscribe to tci General Surgery Coding Alert.

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