October is breast cancer awareness month! Breast cancer is a disease in which cells in the breast grow out of control. The kind of breast cancer depends on which cells in the breast turn into cancer.
Breast cancer can occur in any of the three main areas of the breast. The lobules are the glands that produce milk, ducts carry milk to the nipple, and the connective tissues surround and hold everything together. Most breast cancers begin in the milk ducts.
The goal of treating early and locally-advanced breast cancers is to get rid of cancer and keep it from coming back.
Breast reconstruction has become a common and important step in dealing with breast cancer. It can help patients feel more comfortable about their appearance after a mastectomy, and federal law even requires most insurance plans to cover the cost of breast reconstruction following a mastectomy for breast cancer.
Join us for our October webinar, CPT Coding for Breast surgery. We’ll explore different types of mastectomy procedures and how they impact the breasts. We will also take a close look at the reconstruction procedures and what is included in each of these procedures. We will discuss several case studies and examples involving terminology which causes confusion in coding, such as the “ryan flap”, “wise pattern” incisions, and the “goldilocks” procedure.
For more information on Breast cancer treatment click the links below from the Susan G Komen website.
Deanna Upston, CPMA, CPC, COSC
Consultant