Dr. Johnson performed simple repairs on three wounds: a 4.5 cm wound on the face, a 3.2 cm wound on the lip, and a 1.4 cm wound on the hand. What are the correct CPT codes?

Dr. Johnson performed simple repairs on three wounds: a 4.5 cm wound on the face, a 3.2 cm wound on the lip, and a 1.4 cm wound on the hand. What are the correct CPT codes?

• A. 12014,12002-51
• B. 12015,12001-51
• C. 12013,12001-51
• D. 12015,12003-51

Answer: (B)

When coding simple wound repairs done in one visit, you code the largest wound with its appropriate CPT code and then add codes for the remaining wounds, using the modifier -51 to indicate multiple procedures in the same session. The key is to reflect the size and location of each repair, while showing that more than one repair was performed. In this case, the largest wound is a 4.5 cm facial wound, so you use the CPT code that corresponds to a facial wound of that size (represented here as 12015). For the other two wounds—the lip wound at 3.2 cm and the hand wound at 1.4 cm—you use the appropriate smaller repair code for these additional wounds, and you attach modifier -51 to indicate there are multiple procedures in one visit. The combination 12015, 12001-51 fits this approach, signaling one facial wound coded to 12015 and two additional simple repairs coded with 12001 plus the -51 modifier. Other options would misalign the wound sizes or locations with the codes or improperly handle the multiple-procedure modifier, so they’re not correct in this scenario.

When coding simple wound repairs done in one visit, you code the largest wound with its appropriate CPT code and then add codes for the remaining wounds, using the modifier -51 to indicate multiple procedures in the same session. The key is to reflect the size and location of each repair, while showing that more than one repair was performed.

In this case, the largest wound is a 4.5 cm facial wound, so you use the CPT code that corresponds to a facial wound of that size (represented here as 12015). For the other two wounds—the lip wound at 3.2 cm and the hand wound at 1.4 cm—you use the appropriate smaller repair code for these additional wounds, and you attach modifier -51 to indicate there are multiple procedures in one visit. The combination 12015, 12001-51 fits this approach, signaling one facial wound coded to 12015 and two additional simple repairs coded with 12001 plus the -51 modifier.

Other options would misalign the wound sizes or locations with the codes or improperly handle the multiple-procedure modifier, so they’re not correct in this scenario.