tci General Surgery Coding Alert - 2002 Issue 1

Thoracic-Related Procedures Offer Legitimate Opportunity for Additional Payment

Surgeons who perform thoracic-related procedures may not be obtaining all the  reimbursement they are ethically entitled to for bronchoscopies performed during the same session as thoracic procedures, thoracotomy performed for diskectomy in conjunction with another specialist, transthoracic mediastinal procedures, thoracic lymphadenectomies and other situations like these. Correctly documenting and coding these procedures may yield additional payment; in addition, coding guidelines outlined here can prevent general surgeons from being underpaid for their services during an operative session. Bronchoscopy A surgeon can perform bronchoscopy on a patient for diagnostic purposes, recommending thoracic surgery in cases where bronchoscopy identifies a...

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