# Billing an OB intrathecal like an epidural



## jcarter1954 (Jul 5, 2011)

Can you provide intrathecal injections in place of continuous epidurals for labor and delivery? 

If so: 

1. What code are you using? (Either ASA or CPT) 
2. Do you bill time in conjunction with the intrathecal? 
3. If you bill time, do you treat it the same as an epidural in terms of billing reduced units per hour and allowing concurrent / overlapping cases? 
4. Do you bill a set amount of time? Face-to-face time only? Insertion time plus infusion / monitoring time? 
5. Do you draw a distinction between these two procedures at all? 
6. Do you think that periodic monitoring of the patient is required? That is to say, do you feel that there must be documentation that the physician periodically checked on the status of the patient and her vitals either in person or remotely? 

Also if there is any documentation to support your answer we would appreciate it very much. I have done a lot of online research trying to find documentation to support this either way, and sadly there is very little literature out there that I can find regarding this. 

Thank you for any input at all; I appreciate it very much!


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