Find policies, billing codes, payers, states, and providers
CPT 11044: Surgical Debridement Involving Bone, ≤20 cm2
CPT code 11044 designates surgical debridement involving bone and associated soft tissues for the first or only area measuring 20 cm2 or less. It captures procedures where necrotic or infected bone is removed, often as part of treatment for deep infections, traumatic wounds, or chronic non-healing ulcers. Nationally, accurate coding for this service affects clinical documentation, procedure tracking, and payment for complex wound care and orthopedic procedures.
Key payers analyzed include Aetna, Blue Cross Blue Shield, Cigna Health, UnitedHealthcare, and Medicare. The publication outlines payer coverage considerations, common clinical indications, and related procedure coding to help readers understand how this CPT code is used across settings. It also situates 11044 within the spectrum of debridement codes and highlights typical sites of service such as hospitals, ambulatory surgical centers, and emergency departments.
Readers will find benchmarks and policy context relevant to billing and claims processing, a concise clinical description of the service, and comparisons to adjacent debridement codes to clarify when 11044 is appropriate. The piece provides practical clarity on coding boundaries for bone-involved debridement without offering clinical recommendations.
Customize your policy alerts
Sign up for cpt 11044 policy alerts
Get alerted when payer policies referencing 11044 are released or updated.
Monitor payer policy activity
Billing Code Overview
CPT code 11044 describes surgical debridement that removes necrotic or infected bone and may include removal of the epidermis, dermis, subcutaneous tissue, muscle, and/or fascia as needed. This code applies to the first or only area of bone debridement measuring 20 cm2 or less.
Service type: Surgical debridement including bone
Typical site of service: Operating room or procedure suite in an acute care hospital, ambulatory surgical center, or emergency department, depending on clinical urgency and setting.
National Reimbursement Benchmarks
Across national payers, Medicare’s mean rate of $329.30 sits notably below BUCA’s average commercial mean of $763.00, indicating that BUCA reimburses more than twice the Medicare mean for CPT 11044 on average. This gap highlights a substantial difference between a public baseline and a higher commercial average, with BUCA positioned well above Medicare in mean reimbursement.
Examining dispersion using the interquartile range (P75−P25) shows variation across payers: Blue Cross Blue Shield has the widest IQR at $824.10 (P75 $1,385.20 − P25 $566.10), followed by BUCA at $787.80 (P75 $996.70 − P25 $417.90). UnitedHealth Group’s IQR is $287.10, Aetna’s is $234.00, and Cigna’s is $258.80, making Aetna the tightest of these listed commercial payers by IQR and Blue Cross Blue Shield the most dispersed.