A Review of Mohs Surgery Claims with Incorrect Coding May Reveal Fraud
There are a number of ways a dermatology claim for Mohs surgery can be problematic. But even though there had been a focus on this type of surgery in past years by payers and Recovery Audit Contractors (RACs), legal activity against doctors who allegedly have fraudulently billed Mohs surgery claims has again surfaced, indicating that the issue is not yet resolved.1 What this means for payers is that since Mohs surgery is a high volume and high expense procedure, it needs to be carefully reviewed for possible misuse.
According to the American Society for Mohs Surgery (ASMS), “Mohs surgery is a highly effective treatment for certain types of skin cancer. It is an exacting procedure in which the dermatologist performs both surgical excision of the skin cancer and microscopic examination of the surgical margins to ensure that all skin cancer cells have been removed.” In Mohs surgery, the skin tumor is removed in stages, after which each stage of specimen is evaluated histologically for margins clear of disease.
The CPT codes used to bill for Mohs surgery are 17311-17315 and contain the following descriptions:
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17311 |
Mohs micrographic technique, including removal of all gross tumor, surgical excision of tissue specimens, mapping, color coding of specimens, microscopic examination of specimens by the surgeon, and histopathologic preparation including routine stain(s) (eg, hematoxylin and eosin, toluidine blue), head, neck, hands, feet, genitalia, or any location with surgery directly involving muscle, cartilage, bone, tendon, major nerves, or vessels; first stage, up to 5 tissue blocks |
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17312 |
Mohs micrographic technique, including removal of all gross tumor, surgical excision of tissue specimens, mapping, color coding of specimens, microscopic examination of specimens by the surgeon, and histopathologic preparation including routine stain(s) (eg, hematoxylin and eosin, toluidine blue), head, neck, hands, feet, genitalia, or any location with surgery directly involving muscle, cartilage, bone, tendon, major nerves, or vessels; each additional stage after the first stage, up to 5 tissue blocks (List separately in addition to code for primary procedure) |
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17313 |
Mohs micrographic technique, including removal of all gross tumor, surgical excision of tissue specimens, mapping, color coding of specimens, microscopic examination of specimens by the surgeon, and histopathologic preparation including routine stain(s) (eg, hematoxylin and eosin, toluidine blue), of the trunk, arms, or legs; first stage, up to 5 tissue blocks |
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17314 |
Mohs micrographic technique, including removal of all gross tumor, surgical excision of tissue specimens, mapping, color coding of specimens, microscopic examination of specimens by the surgeon, and histopathologic preparation including routine stain(s) (eg, hematoxylin and eosin, toluidine blue), of the trunk, arms, or legs; each additional stage after the first stage, up to 5 tissue blocks (List separately in addition to code for primary procedure) |
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17315 |
Mohs micrographic technique, including removal of all gross tumor, surgical excision of tissue specimens, mapping, color coding of specimens, microscopic examination of specimens by the surgeon, and histopathologic preparation including routine stain(s) (eg, hematoxylin and eosin, toluidine blue), each additional block after the first 5 tissue blocks, any stage (List separately in addition to code for primary procedure) |
Mohs surgery coding can be inaccurate in several ways:
- Mohs surgery codes 17311-17315 include both the procedure and the preparation/interpretation of the pathology slides. It is not correct to report both 17311 and 88305, for example. The surgeon who performs the procedure must also be the one who interprets the pathology. If a surgeon does a Mohs excision, but not the pathology interpretation, CPT codes 11600-11646 would be used.
- It is standard practice and necessary for a biopsy to be performed prior to the Mohs procedure. However, Medicare and other payers have different rules as to the circumstances when both will be paid in one date of service with modifier -59, such as no previous biopsy on the same lesion within 60 days, no pathology report is available, or when the biopsy and the Mohs procedure are on different sites.
- The secondary code (CPT 17312) must appear on the same claim and same date of service as the primary code (CPT 17311). If a Mohs procedure of one lesion cannot be completed on one day, the second day’s coding would start again with the primary code.
When payers isolate these Mohs procedure codes, the common inaccuracies described above can become apparent. Also, trending analysis will identify outliers across all of a payer’s claims with these CPT codes or across all of a provider’s Mohs procedure claims.
1 On November 21, 2014, the U.S government announced it joined a 2011 lawsuit against a Florida doctor for allegedly performing unnecessary Mohs surgeries. See http://www.justice.gov/usao/fls/PressReleases/141121-01.html. Also see http://www.justice.gov/usao/vae/news/2014/08/20140812Bojaghlinr.html where a dermatologist on August 12, 2014 was indicted on 60 counts of health fraud including performing unnecessary and invasive Mohs micrographic surgeries.
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