March 26, 2015

Question:

Kim, thank you for coming to our practice a few months ago for coding education. You kept everyone’s attention and my partners said they enjoyed the session. I had a coding question and was wondering if you can offer your insight. I have a patient with bilateral LeFort I, II and III fractures which were fixated on each side. Is it appropriate to code for the bilateral LeFort I, II, and III separately or do they need to be coded a different manner?

Answer:

Thank you for your kind words! It was nice working with you and the group. So, actually all the LeFort fracture repair codes assume you are performing the procedure bilaterally; therefore, you would not use modifier 50.