tci General Surgery Coding Alert - 2011 Issue 8

Reader Question: Watch for Separate Closure Rules

Question: Following a melanoma excision, our surgeon performed a layered closure. I've heard that we should add the dimensions of the lesion excision to determine the code choice for the closure -- is this correct?New Mexico SubscriberAnswer: No, you should not base the closure code on the lesion excision size at all. Instead, you should base it on the closure size. When the surgeon excises a lesion, the code includes simple (single layer) closure. But if the surgeon performs a layered closure as you described, you can separately bill the intermediate closure.Do this: What you need to...

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