![](/static/images/TCI-site-logo.png)
tci General Surgery Coding Alert - 2008 Issue 11
Reader Questions: Biopsy Can Be Separate From Mastectomy
Question: If the surgeon performs a breast biopsy, and if frozen section comes back positive, also performs a mastectomy, can you bill for both procedures? If so, will I need modifiers? Virginia Subscriber Answer: You can report both the biopsy and mastectomy,as long as the results of the biopsy prompted the mastectomy (for instance, if biopsy shows malignancy). Many biopsy codes are bundled with lumpectomy and mastectomy codes in the national Correct Coding Initiative (CCI). But this does not mean they cannot be billed together: The CCI edits do not apply when the biopsy is diagnostic (that is...
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.