Implant vs Foreign Body
Question:
What is the difference between an implant and a foreign body?
Answer:
On page 74 of the Current Procedural Terminology (CPT) Professional Edition 2023, the definition was added to the guidelines.“An object intentionally placed by a physician or other qualified heal care professional for any purpose (eg, diagnostic or therapeutic) is considered an implant. An object that is unintentionally placed (eg, trauma or ingestion) is considered a foreign body. If an implant (or part thereof) has moved from its original position or is structurally broken and no longer serves its intended purpose or presents a hazard to the patient, it qualifies as a foreign body for coding purposes, unless CPT coding instructions direct otherwise or a specific CPT code exists to describe the removal of that broken/moved implant.”