Table 1 - Integumentary System CPT Procedure Codeįine needle aspiration without imaging guidanceĪcne surgery (e.g., marsupialization, opening or removal of multiple milia, comedones, cysts, pustules) If the physician feels that a higher level of care is required, please contact HMSA to precertify coverage in another setting. These services are eligible for benefit coverage under HMSA plans only when performed in the physician's office.
Cpt code soft tissue mass chest wall manual#
Notes in the CPT® manual state that a drainage code should be assigned for “each individual collection drained with a separate catheter.”Ĭode 10030 is used for drainage of fluid collection in any part of the body – for example, abdominal wall, soft tissue of the neck, or breast seroma.Ĭode 49405 should be used to report catheter drainage of a pancreatic pseudocyst or a renal abscess.Ĭode 49406 should be used to report a psoas muscle catheter drainage according to Clinical Examples in Radiology, Fall 2103.The following procedures may be safely and effectively performed in a physician's office. Image guided fluid collection drainage by catheter (e.g., abscess, hematoma, seroma, lymphocele, cyst) peritoneal or retroperitoneal, percutaneous Image guided fluid collection drainage by catheter (e.g., abscess, hematoma, seroma, lymphocele, cyst) visceral (e.g., kidney, liver, spleen, lung/mediastinum), percutaneous Pleural drainage, percutaneous with insertion of indwelling catheter, with imaging guidance
Image guided fluid collection drainage by catheter (e.g., abscess, hematoma, seroma, lymphocele, cyst) soft tissue (e.g., extremity, abdominal wall, neck), percutaneous Below is a table of the most common drainage codes.
Another change with the new codes is that imaging guidance is no longer separately billable. No longer do you have to determine if the drainage procedure is for a peritoneal, subdiaphragmatic or retroperitoneal abscess. The appropriate image guidance code should be assigned with 10160, 19000/19001, 50390, and 60300.ĭrainage Procedures: As with the aspiration codes in 2014, the several existing drainage codes were deleted and replaced new codes. Only the thoracentesis and paracentesis include image guidance. If an aspiration is being performed on another type of fluid collection in the breast (e.g., seroma) then the appropriate code to report is 10160. Thoracentesis, needle or catheter, aspiration of the pleural space with imaging guidanceĪbdominal paracentesis (diagnostic or therapeutic) with imaging guidanceĪspiration and/or injection of renal cyst or pelvis by needle, percutaneousĪspiration and/or injection of thyroid cystĬodes 19000/19001 should only be used when a breast cyst is being aspirated. Puncture aspiration of abscess, hematoma, bulla, or cyst The following is a table of the most common aspiration codes. Now we have only a few site specific aspiration codes and one code that should be used to report any aspiration without a site specific code. With the code revisions for 2014, several of the existing aspiration codes were deleted. Now that we have that settled, let’s review the most common aspiration and drainage codes.Īspiration Procedures: Percutaneous aspiration is the evacuation of fluid through a needle or catheter for diagnostic or therapeutic purpose where the needle or catheter is removed at the end of the procedure. Placement of a catheter that is used to drain the fluid and then is immediately removed does not meet the criteria for any of the new drainage codes. The intent of the new CPT drainage codes was that a catheter was to be left in for longer term drainage, not just for aspiration. In addition to the Clinical Examples in Radiology article, Diane Hayek, the Director of Economics & Health Policy for the ACR stated in an email to the RBMA Coding Forum: The correct code depends on whether an “aspiration” or “drainage” is performed these are distinguished by whether or not a drainage catheter is left in place at the conclusion of the procedure (“drainage”) or whether the fluid collection is aspirated with a needle or catheter that is removed at the conclusion of the procedure. In the Summer 2014 issue of Clinical Examples in Radiology, the ACR/AMA stated that: Confusion seems to have grown with the revision of the CPT® drainage codes in 2014, so let’s take a few minutes to review the guidance regarding reporting these codes and a few of the most common codes available for aspiration and drainage procedures. We are frequently asked to review documentation to determine if the service performed was an aspiration or drainage procedure.