Question: I’m looking for the anesthesia code for a tympanostomy of the left ear, performed on a 10-month-old child. What’s the correct choice? Answer: The correct code is 00126 (Anesthesia for procedures on external, middle, and inner ear includin...
You often turn to modifier 53 (discontinued procedure) when your anesthesiologist or the surgeon sees some risk that could threaten the patient’s health if the procedure continues. However, Payers do recoil when it comes to reimbursing these claims. Here are three easy steps by the experts to help you to get on the right track for reimbursement.
1) Conquer Electronic Filing Challenges
Gone are the days when you were told to submit paper claims reporting modifier 53 so you can append a written explanation with the claim. With HIPAA and electronic standards, you can do the billing electronically. Once you have billed electronically with modifier 53, the payer might request more information. Thus the note should contain all the information the carrier needs. For failed procedure, the record should state the reasons for the failure. If your physician discontinued the procedure due to the patient’s condition, the record should detail what factors prevented the procedure from going forward.
2) Verify the Timing of Cancellation
Knowing exactly when the case was canceled in terms of the physician’s work will help guide your code choices. If the physician cancels the procedure after induction, the case technically became a surgical procedure. Determine the correct surgical code, such as 45380 for a colonoscopy with biopsy. Then cross to the correct anesthesia code, such as 00810. If the cancelled procedure took place in an outpatient hospital or ambulatory surgical center, some payers require modifier 73 or modifier 74. In those situations, append modifier 73 or 74 to the anesthesia code instead of modifier 53 as modifiers 73 and 74 are specifically for outpatient hospital use.
3) Include the Correct Diagnosis
Indicate the reason for cancellation by reporting the appropriate diagnosis code or codes. For a patient who experiences syncope while still in the...
Given the variety of anatomic sites, surgical techniques, and types of instrumentation involved in transnasal turbinate surgery, it is the one of the most difficult coding scenarios.
Your otolaryngologist removes the middle turbinate during an endoscopic ethmoidectomy (31254, Nasal/sinus endoscopy, surgical; with ethmoidectomy, partial [anterior], or 31255, Nasal/sinus endoscopy, surgical; with ethmoidectomy, total [anterior and posterior]) or endoscopic polypectomy (31237, Nasal/sinus endoscopy, surgical; with biopsy, polypectomy or debridement [separate procedure]). The middle turbinates are considered access to the sinuses, so you should be able to tell that the removal of the middle turbinate should not be reported separately.
Check out these 3 frequently asked questions (FAQs) to help master your turbinate surgery coding skills.
Should 30130 and 30140 Go Hand-in-Hand?
Suppose the documentation states that the physician entered or excised mucosa and subsequently preserved it. This implies that you should use 30140 (Submucous resection inferior turbinate, partial or complete, any method) to report this service. However, simply reporting that the turbinate was excised is probably not enough documentation for this code. Don’t forget to bill 30130 (Excision inferior turbinate, partial or complete, any method) if there is no evidence of the preservation of the mucosa and the op note just indicates that the inferior turbinate was excised or resected.
Remember that you should not bill 30140 with 30130 — you would bill one or the other, for a single side. “However, if a submucousal resection (preservation of the mucosa) is performed on one side and a straight excision is performed on the other side (no preservation of mucosa), you would code 30140-RT and 30130-59-LT, for example,” explains Barbara J. Cobuzzi, MBA, CPC, CENTC, CPC-H, CPC-P, CPC-I, CHCC, president of CRN Healthcare Solutions, a consulting firm in Tinton Falls, N.J. The RT and LT would represent which side each procedure...
Question: I’m unsure how to code for cannulation of colovesical fistula. The doctor also did a cystoscopy with bilateral retrogrades and bladder biopsies. How should I report this procedure? Answer: There is no specific CPT code for cannulation of th...
You have two options depending on how the physician performed the procedure.
Question: Our orthopedist administered a hip injection under fluoroscopy. Can I report both codes?
Wyoming Subscriber
Answer: You can code both the injection and fluoroscopy, but the correct choices depend on how your physician completed the procedure.
Option 1: If your orthopedist injected radiopaque dye and performed the arthrography concurrently, code the procedure with 27093 (Injection procedure for hip arthrography; without anesthesia).
Option 2: If he completed the guidance and injection as separate procedures, submit 20610 (Arthrocentesis, aspiration, and/or injection; major joint or bursa [e.g., shoulder, hip, knee joint, subacromial bursa]) for the injection. Include 77002 (Fluoroscopic guidance for needle placement [e.g., biopsy, aspiration, injection, localization device]) for the fluoroscopic guidance.
Remember to append modifier 26 (Professional component) to 77002 because your physician performed the service but doesn’t own the fluoroscopy equipment.
SI change: If the physician injects the sacroiliac joint instead of the hip joint, choose either 20610 (Arthrocentesis, aspiration, and/or injection; major joint or bursa [e.g., shoulder, hip, knee joint, subacromial bursa]) or 27096 (Injection procedure for sacroiliac joint, arthrography and/or anesthetic/steroid).
@ Orthopedic Coding Alert. Editor: Leigh DeLozier, CPC
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Even though Medicare no longer accepts consult codes, you can still apply modifier 57.
Question: In our ob-gyn office, we used to apply modifier 57 to inpatient consult codes. Now that Medicare doesn’t accept consult codes, how should we use...
If your radiologist performs adjustments during the bariatric surgery’s global period, do this.
Question: Our radiologists perform percutaneous LAP-BAND adjustments. We report S2083 for the service and 77002 for the fluoroscopy. Is this the correct fluoroscopy code?
Connecticut Subscriber
Answer:...
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