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Anesthesia Coding Alert

Follow Your Step-by-Step Guide to Nailing Down the Correct TEE Code Every Time

Published on Sun Jan 25, 2009

This procedure isn't always a wash when it comes to cardiac anesthesia. Discover if your transesophageal echocardiography (TEE) anesthesia is payable or included in the procedure using this get-the-right code action plan. Distinguish Between Diagnostic and Monitoring The most common problem associated with billing and obtaining reimbursement for TEE is determining whether the procedure is for diagnostic (93312-93317) or monitoring (93318) purposes, says Kelly Dennis, MBA, ACS-AN, CPC, CPC-I, with Perfect Office Solutions of Leesburg, Fla. It is often difficult to tell whether the TEE was diagnostic or not unless your physician identifies the study's purpose. In order to bill for a diagnostic TEE, a written report is needed. In many cases people will only write a report if it is for diagnostic or therapeutic reasons. If you were just using the TEE for monitoring there would be little reason to report that in writing. If you can't tell the [...]
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