Editor’s Note: This article by Paul Cadorette, director of education for mdStrategies, originally appeared in The Coding Advocate, mdStrategies free monthly newsletter. Sign-up to receive this newsletter by clicking here. CPT copyright 2009 American Medical Association. All rights reserved. CPT is a registered trademark of the American Medical Association.
When a snare polypectomy is performed and smaller polyps are ablated using the snare tip a coder should only report CPT code 45385, since this type of destruction does not require a separate tool or sufficient work/effort to justify an additional CPT code.
The information provided should be utilized for educational purposes only. Facilities are ultimately responsible for verifying the reporting policies of individual commercial and MAC/FI carriers prior to claim submissions.
Other recent coding stories from Paul Cadorette:
– PRP for the Treatment of Plantar Fasciitis
– Use of New Facet Injection Codes for 2010
– Partial Mastectomy or Lumpectomy with Axillary Lymphadenectomy
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