UCR 298: Listener Questions Answered — Floor Consults Leading to Surgery, Pelvic Lymphadenectomy Denials, and Bladder Stone Removal During Simple Prostatectomy

July 31, 2026

In this episode, Scott, Mark, and Dr. Ray Painter answer three detailed listener questions. First, they discuss whether an E/M service can be billed when a urologist evaluates a patient on the hospital floor and then decides to take the patient to the operating room for stone treatment or stent placement. Next, they examine payer denials involving laparoscopic radical prostatectomy with bilateral pelvic lymphadenectomy and whether all listed lymph node groups must be removed to support code 55869. Finally, they explain how to report bladder stone removal performed through the same laparoscopic incision as a simple prostatectomy—and why the surgical approach may require an unlisted bladder procedure code.