Here is a question from the Carol Buck practice exam and I got it wrong. 70 year-old male brought to the operating room for a biopsy of the pancreas. A wedge biopsy is taken and sent to pathology. The report comes back immediately indicating that primary malignant cells were present in the specimen. The decision was made to perform a total pancreatectomy. Code the operative procedure(s) and diagnosis only. Here are the choices A( 48100, 197.8 B) 48155, 157.8 C) 48155, 48100-51, 157.9, and D) 48155, 48100-51, 88308, 157.9. I chose B and it shows the answer as being C. I thought that biopsies were included in the total operative procedure, so why would it be added to this procedure code?
After posting this question on a forum I saw the rationale and it states that "Remember, on the certification exam third-party payer guidelines are NOT followed, so the biopsy is reported separately. I thought that biopsies were included in the greater procedure. Can someone please clarify this for me, I sit for my exam on December 8th and I do not want to get tripped up on something like this.
After posting this question on a forum I saw the rationale and it states that "Remember, on the certification exam third-party payer guidelines are NOT followed, so the biopsy is reported separately. I thought that biopsies were included in the greater procedure. Can someone please clarify this for me, I sit for my exam on December 8th and I do not want to get tripped up on something like this.
I don't know why I had thought that they were bundled into the operative codes. So, if a there isn't a code that includes a biopsy, then I can code for the biopsy separately. I just want to make sure of this in case there are any questions like this on the exam and I will make a note in my book so that I don't forget