I’m a surgery coder for a Urology group in Las Vegas and my colleague and I have a quandary while performing audits. Frequently the urologists insert ureteral stents when patients have stones to help with the passage of the stones. They’re usually removed inside of a month (rarely longer than ten to fourteen days) but when the removal visit is being coded – they’re usually done in the office – are you using the T-code (example: T83.112A for mechanical breakdown of indelling ureteral stent, initial encounter) for the diagnosis? We’ve seen them with the T-code diagnosis primary, secondary, and not used at all. We’re both inclined to use the diagnosis for why they were inserted in the first place (example: N13.2 Hydronephrosis with obstruction by stone primary and Ureter Stone N20.1 secondary) especially if there’s no actual defect with the stent.

What’s the school of thought here?

Thanks!