Skin Cancer - Squamous, Basal Cell & Mohs Surgery - CPC AAPC

Explore the skin’s structure—epidermis, dermis, and subcutaneous tissue—along with sebaceous glands, hair follicles, and arrector pili muscle, and learn how ultraviolet A, B, and C affect these layers.

Explore skin cancer signs and abcde indicators—bleeding, non-healing ulcers, irregular borders, color changes, evolving lesions—alongside treatment costs and prevention tips like shade, covered skin, spf 15+.

Explore risk factors for basal cell and squamous cell cancers, melanoma, the impact of UV radiation and indoor tanning, and the importance of early detection for survival.

Learn the two major skin cancer types—basal cell and squamous cell carcinomas, and melanoma from melanocytes—along with their appearances, typical locations, and biopsy-based diagnosis.

Learn diagnostic approaches for skin cancer, including incision and therapeutic biopsies, margins for benign and malignant excisions, and how to code lesion sizes and biopsy procedures with imaging guidance.

Learn the principles of Mohs micrographic surgery, a tissue-sparing, stage-by-stage technique for precise cancer removal with high cure rates and minimal scarring.

Discover how Mohs micrographic surgery uses horizontal sectioning for tissue-sparing cancer removal. Learn margin mapping, surgeon-led histopathology, and staining for precise, well-defined skin cancers.

Master CPC coding for Mohs surgery by learning three steps: stages and blocks, primary vs add-on codes, and coding multiple lesions with repairs, tissue transfer, biopsy, and frozen section.

Learn CPC coding through infographics that clarify stage-based blocks using primary codes 17311 and 17313. Apply rules for additional stages with +17315, non-routine staining with modifier 59, and biopsy-to-mohs sequencing.

Assess a forehead basal cell cancer case in a 54-year-old woman, perform a stage-one four-block excision, and derive the final code seven three one one.

Analyze a two-stage surgery for recurrent basal cell carcinoma of the cheek, including five blocks per stage, margin status, and coding sequence 17311 and 17312.

Explain staging and coding for head and neck basal cell cancer surgery, detailing stage one five blocks and stage two ten blocks with extra blocks coded.

Demonstrates coding a four-stage head skin cancer surgery, including stage-wise tissue blocks, two extra blocks in stage three, diagnostic punch biopsy, and frozen section with modifier 59 for surgeon-performed work.

Walk through a three-stage basal cell cancer surgery on the feet, showing how to code blocks with CPT 17311, 17312 x2, and 17315 x6 under the five-block limit.

Identify the references and resources used to create this skin cancer learning material, including PCP guidelines for medical coding, dermatology texts, Healthline statistics, and the color atlas of family medicine.