Soft Tissue Tumors

Question:

My physician told me to use CPT code 21011 for an excision of a 1.2 cm cutaneous basal cell carcinoma on the scalp. Is this correct?

Answer:

This is a great question. You only use soft tissue tumor codes for the excision of non-cutaneous origin tumors such as lipomas, sarcomas, and hemangiomas. For cutaneous lesions such as basal cell carcinoma 1.2 cm, you would report 11622 (excision, malignant lesion including margins, scalp, neck, hands, feet, genitalia; excised diameter 1.1 to 2.0 cm). For any excision of a cutaneous lesion, they are reported as malignant excisions (116xx) based on anatomic area and cm size.

*This response is based on the best information available as of 4/24/25.