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CPT 11622: Excision of Malignant Skin Lesion 1.1–2.0 cm
CPT code 11622 represents the surgical excision of a malignant skin lesion, including margins, for lesions measuring 1.1 to 2.0 cm in diameter located on high-risk sites such as the scalp, neck, hands, feet, or genitalia. This procedure code is widely used across dermatology and surgical specialties and is important for tracking care, clinical outcomes, and payment for definitive tumor removal in outpatient and ambulatory surgical settings. Key national payers included in the analysis are Aetna, Blue Cross Blue Shield, Cigna Health, UnitedHealthcare, and Medicare.
Readers will learn the clinical context for the code, typical sites of service, how it maps to related excision codes for other lesion sizes, and where it sits within procedural billing for cutaneous malignancies. The publication provides benchmarks and common billing considerations for 11622, clarifies its relationship to adjacent size-based excision codes, and outlines typical clinical scenarios in which the code applies. This summary is designed to inform billing staff, clinicians, and policy analysts about the role of 11622 in surgical management of malignant skin lesions and to support consistent coding and reimbursement workflows nationally.
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Billing Code Overview
CPT code 11622 describes the excision of a malignant skin lesion, including margins, measuring 1.1 to 2.0 cm in diameter. The service involves surgical removal of a cancerous lesion located on the scalp, neck, hands, feet, or genitalia.
Service type: Surgical excision for malignant cutaneous lesions.
Typical site of service: Hospital outpatient department, ambulatory surgery center, or physician office where minor surgical procedures are performed.
National Reimbursement Benchmarks
Medicare's mean rate sits at $258.6, notably lower than BUCA's average commercial mean of $902.2, indicating a substantial gap between public reimbursement and this commercial benchmark. Blue Cross Blue Shield and UnitedHealth Group show higher mean levels ($1,362.5 and $367.6 respectively) that bracket BUCA and Medicare, while Aetna and Cigna occupy lower commercial midpoints nearer to Medicare than to BUCA.
Rate dispersion (P75 minus P25) is tightest for Medicare at $26 ($268 - $242), reflecting relatively low variability across localities. Among commercial payers, Cigna's dispersion is $209 ($432.3 - $213.3) and Aetna's is $143 ($220 - $58.7). The widest spreads appear for Blue Cross Blue Shield at $533.2 ($1,671.2 - $1,138.0) and UnitedHealth Group at $234.1 ($465.3 - $231.2), highlighting substantial heterogeneity in commercial contract rates.