CPT Code 14040 | Description, Procedure & Billing Guidelines (2022)
Bill the 14040 CPT code for repairing lesions in skin areas (as defined by the code descriptor) with healthy tissue flaps.
1. What Is CPT Code 14040?
CPT 14040 covers a procedure in which a provider repairs, with healthy tissues from an adjacent site, lesions on skin areas defined by the official description below. This code covers a defective area of 10 cm2 or less.
2. Description
The CPT book describes CPT 14040 as follows: “Adjacent tissue transfer or rearrangement, forehead, cheeks, chin, mouth, neck, axillae, genitalia, hands and/or feet; defect ten sq cm or less.”
3. Procedure
The 14040 CPT code procedure aims to perform adjacent tissue transfers (ATT) for covering lesions on the patient’s;
- feet;
- hands;
- genitalia;
- axillae (armpits);
- neck;
- mouth;
- chin;
- cheeks; and/or
- forehead.
The provider achieves this by taking a flap from adjacent healthy, normal tissue and using it to cover a damaged skin area.
This procedure starts with prepping and anesthetizing the patient before the provider repairs lesions on patient’s skin and marks the area.
Then, the provider excisions in the marked area and raises an adjacent healthy tissue flap. Next, they fix the flap to the defective area. The site can be a primary or secondary integumentary defect (e.g., sutures).
Finally, they finish the CPT 14040 procedure, stop the bleeding, and apply clean dressing to the wound.
4. How To Use CPT 14040
CPT code 14040 can only be used for a defect of 10 cm2 or less. You can use CPT 14041 for a defective area of 10.1 cm2 to 30.0 cm2.
You can not bill the removal of lesions separately if the provider performs adjacent tissue transfer because it is already part of the 14040 CPT code procedure.
5. Resources
https://www.aapc.com/blog/22799-optimize-adjacent-tissue-transferrearrangement-reimbursement/
https://www.docdoc.com/medical-information/procedures/adjacent-tissue-transfer-or-rearrangement
