Ask Dr. Z

Ask Dr. Z Knowledge Base houses over 7,500 coding questions and answers dating back to 2013.

Ask Dr. Z Disclaimer

Please note this question was answered in 2014. The coding advice may or may not be outdated.

Empyema Drain 2014

Date: Sep 12, 2014

Question:

Initial Question: Can you please clarify whether an empyema drain would be reported with code 49405 or 32557 for 2014?

Follow-Up Question: I have a question about your response I received. Code 49405 lists lung/mediastinum in parenthesis in the CPT Codebook, and I have heard this is the way to bill for an empyema drain. If not, when would it be appropriate to bill code 49405 for the lung/mediastinum?  Thoughts?

49405   Image guided fluid collection drainage by catheter (eg, abscess, hematoma, seroma, lymphocele, cyst); visceral (eg, kidney, liver, spleen, lung/mediastinum), percutaneous

Question ID : 5961
Sign up for a membership to view the answer to this question.

Need to ask Dr.Z?

Don't see the answer you're looking for in the knowledge base? No problem. You can ask Dr. Z directly!
Ask Dr. Z a question now!