tci General Surgery Coding Alert - 2009 Issue 7

Reader Questions: Follow Payer Preferences for Destruction Billing

Question: My physician removed 14 premalignant lesions from a patients face, neck, and scalp during one session. How should I bill for this procedure? North Dakota Subscriber Answer: You will bill out one instance of 17000 (Destruction [e.g., laser surgery, electrosurgery, cryosurgery,chemosurgery, surgical curettement],premalignant lesions [e.g., actinic keratoses]; first lesion) and then 13 instances of 17003 (& second through 14 lesions, each &). Check with your payer: Some payers will want you to bill this sort of procedure on 14 separate lines (17000 once and then 17003 on 13 additional lines). Other payers may...

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