Tips & Expertise: ICD-10-PCS for GI Procedures

Q:  Can you explain when the approach for laparoscopically-assisted procedure through an orifice would be used? A:  This approach was added to the GI system in fiscal year 2018 to report a laparoscopically-assisted anal-pull through procedure.  This procedure is...

Tips & Expertise: ICD-10-PCS for Podiatry

Q: How is a double osteotomy bunionectomy coded? Does it require more than one code? A: The intent of a double osteotomy is to make two cuts in the bone – either two in the metatarsal head or one in the metatarsal head and one in the proximal phalanx – to correct...

Tips & Expertise: CPT Coding for Foot Procedures

Q: Why does CPT Assistant recommend for a scarf osteotomy, but then has “scarf” listed as an eponym for 28295?A: The scarf osteotomy refers to the shape of the cut, so could be reported with either code depending on where the cut is made on the MT. Q: Is modifier 59...

Tips & Expertise: Hand Surgery Coding in PCS

Q:  How do you code a “completion amputation”, where a traumatic amputation of the finger is cut back further and then closed up?A:  It depends on how much tissue was removed, at what level, and how it’s documented. If a rongeur was used to just smooth off the bone...