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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.
1. Debridement codes 11040 and 11041 have been deleted. To report debridement of epidermis and/or dermis use the wound care management codes 97597 and 97598.
2. Debridement codes are reported for injuries, infections, wounds and chronic ulcers.
3. When a single wound is present the code is based on the deepest level of tissue that is debrided.
4. With multiple wounds, the coder should add together the surface area for wounds of the same depth, but not wounds from a different depth.
For example, subcutaneous tissue debridement from a 3sq cm leg wound and 3sq cm abdominal wound with bone debridement from a 6sq cm forearm wound. Since the leg and abdominal wounds are the same depth the coder should add these wounds together and report 11042 for a 6sq cm subcutaneous tissue debridement along with 11044 for the forearm debridement because debridement of the forearm wound was at a different depth (bone) from the other two wounds (subcutaneous tissue).
The information provided should be utilized for educational purposes only. Please consult with your billing and coding expert. Facilities are ultimately responsible for verifying the reporting policies of individual commercial and MAC/FI carriers prior to claim submissions.