Unlock the full potential of your medical coding capabilities with the CPT® Advanced Coding Pack from the American Medical Association (AMA). Designed for professional medical coders, auditors, and billers like you, this comprehensive suite of resources provides everything you need to navigate the complexities of the CPT code set with confidence and precision.
Advanced Coding Pack includes:
CPT Assistant - Newsletter with official education and guidance
CPT Knowledge Base - Commonly asked coding questions answered by the experts
CPT Vignettes - Comprehensive clinical examples.
Add to your Find-A-Code subscription for $300 / person
tci General Surgery Coding Alert - 2002 Issue 5
Reader Question: Groin Exploration without Hernia
Question: Our surgeon suspected the patient was suffering from an inguinal hernia, but did not find one when he explored the groin. Should we report this as 49000?
Idaho Subscriber
Answer: Code 49000 (Exploratory laparotomy, exploratory celiotomy with or without biopsy[s] [separate procedure]) should not be reported. The surgeon performed the exploration, thinking he would repair an inguinal hernia. Although hernia repair was not performed, the procedure was completed in that the exploration was performed and the patient closed. Therefore, the appropriate inguinal hernia repair code (most likely 49505) should be billed, with modifier -52 (Reduced services) appended.
If...
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: