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Billing code

Z151A — Group 3 - Cyst, Haemangioma, Lipoma - Other Areas General Anaesthetic - Three Or More Lesions

Three+ body cysts, general anaesthetic

Bill for excising three or more cysts, haemangiomas or lipomas outside the face and neck under general anaesthetic.

Watch for: If no general anaesthetic is needed, bill Z127 instead; cosmetic removal isn't insured.

Code

Z151A

Description

Group 3 - Cyst, Haemangioma, Lipoma - Other Areas General Anaesthetic - Three Or More Lesions

FHO+ basket

Not in the FHO+ base rate basket (Schedule 2 or 2B).

Effective date

Apr 1, 2026

Termination date

No end date

Explanation

Updated October 26, 2026

Excision of three or more cysts, haemangiomas or lipomas outside the face and neck under general anaesthetic. Under local anaesthetic the code is Z127.

What it covers

Z151 is excision, with or without biopsy, of three or more Group 3 lesions (cyst, haemangioma or lipoma) in an area other than the face or neck, done under general anaesthetic (M3, M4).

It is marked #: the fee doesn't include the premises, equipment, supplies and personnel for the procedure, which are funded by the hospital budget in hospital, and patients can't be charged for them (GP13). As a Z code it is an independent operative procedure (IOP) (GP4).

Billing rules

• Z151 covers three or more lesions; one lesion is Z149, two Z150, and extensive or massive lesions are Z152 (IC) (M4).
• When no anaesthetic is required, the excision is claimed under the local anaesthetic listing, Z127 for three or more lesions (SP5, M4).
• A surgical assistant bills 6 basic units with suffix B and the anaesthetist 6 basic units with suffix C (M4, SP5).
• The outside-hospital add-on E542 is printed under the local anaesthetic listings, not the general anaesthetic ones (M4).
• When another procedure is done under the same anaesthesia, the major procedure is paid in full and the others at 85% unless otherwise stated (SP2); multiple IOPs (Z codes) done at the same time by the same physician are each claimed in full, with pre- and post-operative care claimed as for one procedure (SP4).
• A local anaesthetic or nerve block you give for your own procedure is not paid separately; the exception is G224 for a post-operative pain block lasting more than 4 hours (SP5).
• Removal of lesions for cosmetic purposes, without clinical suspicion of disease or malignancy, is not an insured service (M3); outside the face and neck, benign lesions removed only to alter appearance are normally not insured (AD3).
• FHO: not listed in Schedule 2 (core services), so not part of the base rate basket (Agreement pp.75–82).

Often billed with

• Another, non-IOP procedure under the same anaesthesia, with the lesser procedure paid at 85% (SP2).
• G224 when the surgeon gives a post-operative pain block lasting more than 4 hours (SP5).

Related codes: Z149, Z150, Z127, Z147

Source: Schedule of Benefits (July 1, 2026), Integumentary System Surgical Procedures, Skin and Subcutaneous Tissue, Excision (with or without biopsy), Group 3, pages M3 and M4; Appendix D AD3; Surgical Preamble SP2 and SP5; General Preamble GP13

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