A patient presents for excision of a benign skin lesion on the back measuring 0.4 cm. The provider performed a simple closure during the procedure. Which modifier should be appended to the CPT code for the excision to accurately reflect the procedural details?
The correct modifier should be appended to indicate that no additional, unusual, or complex work was needed to close the wound after the lesion excision. In this scenario, since the closure is simple and included in the global definition of an excision procedure, no separate reimbursement or modifier would typically be applicable for the closure. Using the incorrect modifier could either overstate the complexity of the procedure, potentially leading to an overpayment, or understate it, which might result in lower reimbursement. Therefore, since the simple closure is part of the excision code, no modifier for the closure is needed.
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