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CPT 12014: Simple Repair of Superficial Wounds of Face and Mucous Membranes, 5.1–7.5 cm
CPT code 12014 designates a simple repair for superficial lacerations of the face, ears, eyelids, nose, lips, and mucous membranes measuring 5.1 to 7.5 cm. This code captures a common, low-complexity procedural service rendered in outpatient settings and emergency departments and is frequently used in acute wound care and minor surgical encounters. Nationally, accurate use of this code supports clinical documentation consistency, appropriate payment for minor surgical repairs, and quality measurement related to wound management.
Major commercial payers covered in this analysis include Aetna, Blue Cross Blue Shield, Cigna Health, and UnitedHealthcare, with Medicare included for federal coverage context. Readers will find a concise overview of clinical indications tied to CPT code 12014, common billing and coding relationships with adjacent simple repair codes, and guidance on common diagnosis pairings relevant to laceration care. The publication also summarizes typical sites of service and service type to clarify clinical workflow implications.
This summary is intended to help coding professionals, clinical managers, and revenue cycle teams understand where CPT code 12014 fits within the simple repair family, how it aligns with common ICD-10 laceration diagnoses, and what to expect in terms of routine billing scenarios. Data not available in the input will be identified in the full report where applicable.
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Billing Code Overview
CPT code 12014 describes the simple repair of superficial wounds located on the face, ears, eyelids, nose, lips, and/or mucous membranes where the wound length measures 5.1 cm to 7.5 cm. This procedure is a primary-care or specialty outpatient surgical repair focused on superficial lacerations that require straightforward closure techniques.
Service Type: Simple wound repair (superficial)
Typical Site of Service: Outpatient clinic or emergency department (face, ear, eyelid, nose, lip, or mucous membrane repair)
National Reimbursement Benchmarks
Medicare’s mean rate of $177.3 sits below BUCA’s average commercial mean of $230, indicating that BUCA reimburses notably higher on average for CPT 12014 than the Medicare benchmark. The gap of $52.7 between those means highlights a material spread between a public payer baseline and a commercial average for this code.
Rate dispersion (P75 minus P25) varies meaningfully across payers: Blue Cross Blue Shield shows the widest spread at $121.0 ($344.6 − $223.6), followed by Cigna at $138.7 ($250.9 − $116.2) and UnitedHealth Group at $129.5 ($259.6 − $130.1). Aetna’s dispersion is tighter at $83.4 ($121.7 − $37.8). BUCA’s interquartile spread is $118.8 ($287.2 − $168.4), and Medicare’s interquartile range is narrow at $19 ($185 − $166).