tci General Surgery Coding Alert - 2006 Issue 3

Reader Questions: Don't Rely on 'Biopsy' for Coding Guidance

Question: How should I code for an -excisional biopsy-? Is this a biopsy only, or is it truly an excision of some type?Mississippi Subscriber Answer: An -excisional biopsy- generally means a complete excision.Your confusion is justified, however: Not only do physicians and coders apply the terms -excision- and -biopsy- imprecisely, but you can easily mistake a lesion excision for a biopsy because when your physician removes a lesion, he will usually also send a sample of the lesion for a biopsy afterward.Quick tip: For coding, a biopsy (for example, 11100, Biopsy of skin, subcutaneous tissue and/or...

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:
  • tci General Surgery Coding Alert +Archives

demo
request yours today
 subscribe
start today
 newsletter
free subscription

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