A 23-year-old male has been having recurrent epistaxis of the right naris. The last nose bleed was prolonged, lasting more than 10 minutes. He sees his otolaryngologist and is offered cautery in the office to stop the nose bleeds from recurring. He agrees to the procedure and cautery is performed in the office of the anterior right nares. This was considered a simple procedure. What is the correct CPT code for this procedure?

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

Code 30901is the correct code for a one-sided simple cautery of the nares performed in the office.
Code 30901 with modifier -50 is incorrect because it did not involve both nares, so no modifier is needed. Codes 30903 and 30903, -50 are incorrect because these are for a complex procedure.

A 23-Year-Old Male Has Been Having Recurrent Epistaxis of the Right