[Histonet] Re: CPT codes (breast)

[Robert Richmond]

Here's chapter and verse from the College of American Pathologists
(CAP) Web site, originally published in the June 2003 CAP TODAY. I
confess I don't find it exactly clear!

Q: Is an oriented needle-localization lumpectomy specimen, which turns
out to be benign, coded as 88305 or 88307?

A: The final diagnosis is not the sole determining factor in assigning
the appropriate CPT code for breast excisions. If the clinical
assessment and mammography findings determine the need to assess
adequacy of the excision (with microscopic evaluation of the margins),
and the material is prepared and evaluated, then it should be coded
accordingly. In this scenario the appropriate code is 88307 Breast,
Excision of Lesion, Requiring Microscopic Evaluation of Surgical
Margins.

Bob Richmond
Samurai Pathologist
Knoxville TN