Mel,
I don't know the answer, but I am curious about how this relates to what I do. If I remove a polyp while doing an endoscopic procedure, I am not certain if the lesion is benign or malignant. I use the CPT code for a polyp removal, and the ICD-9 is for "colon polyp". If I had to wait for the pathology report to come back to do my billing, that would be a significant handicap. Is your situation the same? Do you get paid more for the same CPT if the diagnosis is a malignancy vs. a benign lesion? If not, then why not find a more generic code for a lesion (like Chris suggests) and use that?
