© Copyright 2025 American Medical Association. All rights reserved.
A benign hyperkeratotic lesion, such as a corn or callus, is characterized by an abnormal thickening of the outer layer of skin, which can occur due to repeated friction or pressure. Corns are typically smaller, localized areas of thickened skin that often develop on the toes, while calluses are larger, broader areas of thickened skin that usually form on the soles of the feet. These lesions can become painful, especially when they press against underlying tissues, necessitating their removal. The procedure involves paring or cutting away the thickened skin using a scalpel, effectively alleviating discomfort and restoring normal skin texture. For coding purposes, CPT® Code 11055 is specifically designated for the removal of a single benign hyperkeratotic lesion. In cases where multiple lesions are present, different codes are utilized: CPT® Code 11056 is used for the removal of two to four lesions, and CPT® Code 11057 is applicable for the removal of more than four lesions.
© Copyright 2025 Coding Ahead. All rights reserved.
The procedure is indicated for the removal of benign hyperkeratotic lesions that cause discomfort or pain due to pressure on underlying tissues. These lesions include:
The procedure for paring or cutting of a benign hyperkeratotic lesion involves several key steps:
Post-procedure care involves monitoring the site for any signs of infection, such as increased redness, swelling, or discharge. Patients are typically advised to keep the area clean and dry, and to follow any specific instructions provided by the healthcare provider regarding dressing changes and activity restrictions. Recovery time may vary depending on the individual and the extent of the procedure, but most patients can expect to resume normal activities shortly after the procedure, provided there are no complications.
Short Descr | PARING/CUTG B9 HYPRKER LES 1 | Medium Descr | PARING/CUTTING BENIGN HYPERKERATOTIC LESION 1 | Long Descr | Paring or cutting of benign hyperkeratotic lesion (eg, corn or callus); single lesion | Status Code | Restricted Coverage | Global Days | 000 - Endoscopic or Minor Procedure | PC/TC Indicator (26, TC) | 0 - Physician Service Code | Multiple Procedures (51) | 2 - Standard payment adjustment rules for multiple procedures apply. | Bilateral Surgery (50) | 0 - 150% payment adjustment for bilateral procedures does NOT apply. | Physician Supervisions | 09 - Concept does not apply. | Assistant Surgeon (80, 82) | 1 - Statutory payment restriction for assistants at surgery applies to this procedure... | Co-Surgeons (62) | 0 - Co-surgeons not permitted for this procedure. | Team Surgery (66) | 0 - Team surgeons not permitted for this procedure. | Diagnostic Imaging Family | 99 - Concept Does Not Apply | APC Status Indicator | STV-Packaged Codes | ASC Payment Indicator | Packaged service/item; no separate payment made. | Type of Service (TOS) | 2 - Surgery | Berenson-Eggers TOS (BETOS) | P5A - Ambulatory procedures - skin | MUE | 1 | CCS Clinical Classification | 170 - Excision of skin lesion |
Q8 | Two class b findings | Q9 | One class b and two class c findings | 59 | Distinct procedural service: under certain circumstances, it may be necessary to indicate that a procedure or service was distinct or independent from other non-e/m services performed on the same day. modifier 59 is used to identify procedures/services, other than e/m services, that are not normally reported together, but are appropriate under the circumstances. documentation must support a different session, different procedure or surgery, different site or organ system, separate incision/excision, separate lesion, or separate injury (or area of injury in extensive injuries) not ordinarily encountered or performed on the same day by the same individual. however, when another already established modifier is appropriate it should be used rather than modifier 59. only if no more descriptive modifier is available, and the use of modifier 59 best explains the circumstances, should modifier 59 be used. note: modifier 59 should not be appended to an e/m service. to report a separate and distinct e/m service with a non-e/m service performed on the same date, see modifier 25. | GW | Service not related to the hospice patient's terminal condition | Q7 | One class a finding | XS | Separate structure, a service that is distinct because it was performed on a separate organ/structure | GA | Waiver of liability statement issued as required by payer policy, individual case | 51 | Multiple procedures: when multiple procedures, other than e/m services, physical medicine and rehabilitation services or provision of supplies (eg, vaccines), are performed at the same session by the same individual, the primary procedure or service may be reported as listed. the additional procedure(s) or service(s) may be identified by appending modifier 51 to the additional procedure or service code(s). note: this modifier should not be appended to designated "add-on" codes (see appendix d). | LT | Left side (used to identify procedures performed on the left side of the body) | RT | Right side (used to identify procedures performed on the right side of the body) | GY | Item or service statutorily excluded, does not meet the definition of any medicare benefit or, for non-medicare insurers, is not a contract benefit | GZ | Item or service expected to be denied as not reasonable and necessary | XU | Unusual non-overlapping service, the use of a service that is distinct because it does not overlap usual components of the main service | X4 | Episodic/focused services: for reporting services by clinicians who provide focused care on particular types of treatment limited to a defined period and circumstance; the patient has a problem, acute or chronic, that will be treated with surgery, radiation, or some other type of generally time-limited intervention; reporting clinician service examples include but are not limited to, the orthopedic surgeon performing a knee replacement and seeing the patient through the postoperative period | 79 | Unrelated procedure or service by the same physician or other qualified health care professional during the postoperative period: the individual may need to indicate that the performance of a procedure or service during the postoperative period was unrelated to the original procedure. this circumstance may be reported by using modifier 79. (for repeat procedures on the same day, see modifier 76.) | T5 | Right foot, great toe | TA | Left foot, great toe | Q6 | Service furnished under a fee-for-time compensation arrangement by a substitute physician or by a substitute physical therapist furnishing outpatient physical therapy services in a health professional shortage area, a medically underserved area, or a rural area | X2 | Continuous/focused services: for reporting services by clinicians whose expertise is needed for the ongoing management of a chronic disease or a condition that needs to be managed and followed with no planned endpoint to the relationship; reporting clinician service examples include but are not limited to: a rheumatologist taking care of the patient's rheumatoid arthritis longitudinally but not providing general primary care services | AQ | Physician providing a service in an unlisted health professional shortage area (hpsa) | GV | Attending physician not employed or paid under arrangement by the patient's hospice provider | T4 | Left foot, fifth digit | T6 | Right foot, second digit | GC | This service has been performed in part by a resident under the direction of a teaching physician | T9 | Right foot, fifth digit | KX | Requirements specified in the medical policy have been met | PO | Excepted service provided at an off-campus, outpatient, provider-based department of a hospital | T1 | Left foot, second digit | T2 | Left foot, third digit | T7 | Right foot, third digit | 58 | Staged or related procedure or service by the same physician or other qualified health care professional during the postoperative period: it may be necessary to indicate that the performance of a procedure or service during the postoperative period was: (a) planned or anticipated (staged); (b) more extensive than the original procedure; or (c) for therapy following a surgical procedure. this circumstance may be reported by adding modifier 58 to the staged or related procedure. note: for treatment of a problem that requires a return to the operating/procedure room (eg, unanticipated clinical condition), see modifier 78. | CR | Catastrophe/disaster related | T3 | Left foot, fourth digit | T8 | Right foot, fourth digit | AG | Primary physician | CC | Procedure code change (use 'cc' when the procedure code submitted was changed either for administrative reasons or because an incorrect code was filed) | GX | Notice of liability issued, voluntary under payer policy | Q5 | Service furnished under a reciprocal billing arrangement by a substitute physician or by a substitute physical therapist furnishing outpatient physical therapy services in a health professional shortage area, a medically underserved area, or a rural area | X1 | Continuous/broad services: for reporting services by clinicians, who provide the principal care for a patient, with no planned endpoint of the relationship; services in this category represent comprehensive care, dealing with the entire scope of patient problems, either directly or in a care coordination role; reporting clinician service examples include, but are not limited to: primary care, and clinicians providing comprehensive care to patients in addition to specialty care | XE | Separate encounter, a service that is distinct because it occurred during a separate encounter | 22 | Increased procedural services: when the work required to provide a service is substantially greater than typically required, it may be identified by adding modifier 22 to the usual procedure code. documentation must support the substantial additional work and the reason for the additional work (ie, increased intensity, time, technical difficulty of procedure, severity of patient's condition, physical and mental effort required). note: this modifier should not be appended to an e/m service. | 25 | Significant, separately identifiable evaluation and management service by the same physician or other qualified health care professional on the same day of the procedure or other service: it may be necessary to indicate that on the day a procedure or service identified by a cpt code was performed, the patient's condition required a significant, separately identifiable e/m service above and beyond the other service provided or beyond the usual preoperative and postoperative care associated with the procedure that was performed. a significant, separately identifiable e/m service is defined or substantiated by documentation that satisfies the relevant criteria for the respective e/m service to be reported (see evaluation and management services guidelines for instructions on determining level of e/m service). the e/m service may be prompted by the symptom or condition for which the procedure and/or service was provided. as such, different diagnoses are not required for reporting of the e/m services on the same date. this circumstance may be reported by adding modifier 25 to the appropriate level of e/m service. note: this modifier is not used to report an e/m service that resulted in a decision to perform surgery. see modifier 57 for significant, separately identifiable non-e/m services, see modifier 59. | 47 | Anesthesia by surgeon: regional or general anesthesia provided by the surgeon may be reported by adding modifier 47 to the basic service. (this does not include local anesthesia.) note: modifier 47 would not be used as a modifier for the anesthesia procedures. | 53 | Discontinued procedure: under certain circumstances, the physician or other qualified health care professional may elect to terminate a surgical or diagnostic procedure. due to extenuating circumstances or those that threaten the well being of the patient, it may be necessary to indicate that a surgical or diagnostic procedure was started but discontinued. this circumstance may be reported by adding modifier 53 to the code reported by the individual for the discontinued procedure. note: this modifier is not used to report the elective cancellation of a procedure prior to the patient's anesthesia induction and/or surgical preparation in the operating suite. for outpatient hospital/ambulatory surgery center (asc) reporting of a previously scheduled procedure/service that is partially reduced or cancelled as a result of extenuating circumstances or those that threaten the well being of the patient prior to or after administration of anesthesia, see modifiers 73 and 74 (see modifiers approved for asc hospital outpatient use). | 56 | Preoperative management only: when 1 physician or other qualified health care professional performed the preoperative care and evaluation and another performed the surgical procedure, the preoperative component may be identified by adding modifier 56 to the usual procedure number. | 62 | Two surgeons: when 2 surgeons work together as primary surgeons performing distinct part(s) of a procedure, each surgeon should report his/her distinct operative work by adding modifier 62 to the procedure code and any associated add-on code(s) for that procedure as long as both surgeons continue to work together as primary surgeons. each surgeon should report the co-surgery once using the same procedure code. if additional procedure(s) (including add-on procedure(s) are performed during the same surgical session, separate code(s) may also be reported with modifier 62 added. note: if a co-surgeon acts as an assistant in the performance of additional procedure(s), other than those reported with the modifier 62, during the same surgical session, those services may be reported using separate procedure code(s) with modifier 80 or modifier 82 added, as appropriate. | 76 | Repeat procedure or service by same physician or other qualified health care professional: it may be necessary to indicate that a procedure or service was repeated by the same physician or other qualified health care professional subsequent to the original procedure or service. this circumstance may be reported by adding modifier 76 to the repeated procedure or service. note: this modifier should not be appended to an e/m service. | 78 | Unplanned return to the operating/procedure room by the same physician or other qualified health care professional following initial procedure for a related procedure during the postoperative period: it may be necessary to indicate that another procedure was performed during the postoperative period of the initial procedure (unplanned procedure following initial procedure). when this procedure is related to the first, and requires the use of an operating/procedure room, it may be reported by adding modifier 78 to the related procedure. (for repeat procedures, see modifier 76.) | 80 | Assistant surgeon: surgical assistant services may be identified by adding modifier 80 to the usual procedure number(s). | 81 | Minimum assistant surgeon: minimum surgical assistant services are identified by adding modifier 81 to the usual procedure number. | 95 | Synchronous telemedicine service rendered via a real-time interactive audio and video telecommunications system: synchronous telemedicine service is defined as a real-time interaction between a physician or other qualified health care professional and a patient who is located at a distant site from the physician or other qualified health care professional. the totality of the communication of information exchanged between the physician or other qualified health care professional and the patient during the course of the synchronous telemedicine service must be of an amount and nature that would be sufficient to meet the key components and/or requirements of the same service when rendered via a face-to-face interaction. modifier 95 may only be appended to the services listed in appendix p. appendix p is the list of cpt codes for services that are typically performed face-to-face, but may be rendered via a real-time (synchronous) interactive audio and video telecommunications system. | 96 | Habilitative services: when a service or procedure that may be either habilitative or rehabilitative in nature is provided for habilitative purposes, the physician or other qualified health care professional may add modifier 96 to the service or procedure code to indicate that the service or procedure provided was a habilitative service. habilitative services help an individual learn skills and functioning for daily living that the individual has not yet developed, and then keep and/or improve those learned skills. habilitative services also help an individual keep, learn, or improve skills and functioning for daily living. | 99 | Multiple modifiers: under certain circumstances 2 or more modifiers may be necessary to completely delineate a service. in such situations modifier 99 should be added to the basic procedure, and other applicable modifiers may be listed as part of the description of the service. | AM | Physician, team member service | AS | Physician assistant, nurse practitioner, or clinical nurse specialist services for assistant at surgery | CG | Policy criteria applied | CS | Cost-sharing waived for specified covid-19 testing-related services that result in and order for or administration of a covid-19 test and/or used for cost-sharing waived preventive services furnished via telehealth in rural health clinics and federally qualified health centers during the covid-19 public health emergency | ER | Items and services furnished by a provider-based, off-campus emergency department | F1 | Left hand, second digit | F2 | Left hand, third digit | F3 | Left hand, fourth digit | F4 | Left hand, fifth digit | F5 | Right hand, thumb | F6 | Right hand, second digit | F7 | Right hand, third digit | F8 | Right hand, fourth digit | F9 | Right hand, fifth digit | FA | Left hand, thumb | FY | X-ray taken using computed radiography technology/cassette-based imaging | G2 | Most recent urr reading of 60 to 64.9 | GF | Non-physician (e.g. nurse practitioner (np), certified registered nurse anesthetist (crna), certified registered nurse (crn), clinical nurse specialist (cns), physician assistant (pa)) services in a critical access hospital | L1 | Provider attestation that the hospital laboratory test(s) is not packaged under the hospital opps | Q0 | Investigational clinical service provided in a clinical research study that is in an approved clinical research study | Q1 | Routine clinical service provided in a clinical research study that is in an approved clinical research study | Q2 | Demonstration procedure/service | QB | Prescribed amounts of stationary oxygen for daytime use while at rest and nighttime use differ and the average of the two amounts exceeds 4 liters per minute (lpm) and portable oxygen is prescribed | QJ | Services/items provided to a prisoner or patient in state or local custody, however the state or local government, as applicable, meets the requirements in 42 cfr 411.4 (b) | Ordering professional consulted a qualified clinical decision support mechanism for this service and the related data was provided to the furnishing professional | SA | Nurse practitioner rendering service in collaboration with a physician | SC | Medically necessary service or supply | SG | Ambulatory surgical center (asc) facility service | TR | School-based individualized education program (iep) services provided outside the public school district responsible for the student | TT | Individualized service provided to more than one patient in same setting | U7 | Medicaid level of care 7, as defined by each state | UD | Medicaid level of care 13, as defined by each state | X5 | Diagnostic services requested by another clinician: for reporting services by a clinician who furnishes care to the patient only as requested by another clinician or subsequent and related services requested by another clinician; this modifier is reported for patient relationships that may not be adequately captured by the above alternative categories; reporting clinician service examples include but are not limited to, the radiologist's interpretation of an imaging study requested by another clinician | XP | Separate practitioner, a service that is distinct because it was performed by a different practitioner |
Date
|
Action
|
Notes
|
---|---|---|
2024-01-01 | Changed | Short Description changed. |
1998-01-01 | Added | First appearance in code book in 1998. |
Get instant expert-level medical coding assistance.