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Lesion removals. This is the skin night, Iím telling you. Okay, ìWhen coding 17Öî We
must haveÖ maybe some students in our course in the Integumentary System, perhaps?
ìWhen coding 17000, 003 and 004, do you put the number of lesions removed units or do
you just list each lesion separately with the 59 modifier? Iíve seen it both ways.
Iím thinking of using the units and not the modifier.î Okay, let me turn thereÖ
Okay so here, we see where the bubbling and highlighting helps. And what Iíve highlighted
after the semi-colon is first lesion. And then the idented code is the 2nd through 14.
Okay and because it uses the word ìeachî,
if you haveÖ letís just say, for example, 12 lesions total. 17000 will be what youíll
use for the first lesion. And then 17003, youíll report times 11 to come up with the
individual ones. So thatís how I would do it. Iíd put a 11 in that column. Now, as
far as the 59 goes, that would be a pair preference, I guess, because youíre going to have them
listed as units. So if you just had two and you have one unit of 17000 and one unit of
17003, I donít think 59 would really apply because itís an addon code. So you know,
unless the payer specifically told you to do it a different way, I donít think itís
necessary you know, to do that. But thatísÖ you know, Iím in the coding world, not the
billing world so your mileage might vary there. You know, if anyone has any other opinions,
feel free to put it in the chat box. On the board exam, I doubt youíd use a 59 in that
case.
Oh, and you asked about the 004. That is when once you hit 15 or more then you use 17004,
okay? So if you haveÖ and youíll only report 1 unit of it. So if you have 20, youíre going
to only report one unit of 17004, okay?
And is modifier 51 exempt?
Yes, the 17004 and thatís because of the No Smoking symbol is what I call it.
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