Question

Tina Swenson is a 33-year-old attorney who has had a persistent cough and dyspnea for a few weeks. She noted the onset soon after exerting herself in very cold temperatures. She underwent a bronchoscopy during which no endobronchial lesions were noted. Slight erythema was noted in the left upper lobe and bronchial brushings were obtained. These were sent to pathology and were returned as negative for malignant cells. She was discharged to home with a diagnosis of probable bronchitis. She was given instructions for care and follow-up.

What is the CPT code (s)?

Modifiers if appropriate?

Answer 1

Answers

The Current Procedural Terminology (CPT) is used to report the medical, surgical, and diagnostic procedures and services.

In this case, the patient underwent the Bronchoscopy procedure along with bronchial brushings was also obtained. So the CPT for the current procedure will be:

31623- Bronchoscopy, rigid or flexible, including fluoroscopic guidance, when performed; with brushing or protected brushings.

Here multiple procedures were performed for the patient, hence modifier 51 should be assigned to the professional code to indicate the performance of multiple procedures.

Modifier 51: When multiple procedures, other than E/M services, were performed at the same session by the same provider, the primary procedure or service may be reported as listed. The additional services or procedures may be identified by appending modifier 51 to the additional procedure or service code.

So the CPT code for the given procedure will be:

31623-51