Anesthesia Coding Alert

Pay particular attention to your T-code claims -- they take the biggest hit

      Although the latest National Correct Coding Initiative (NCCI) edits contains no widespread changes, you'll need to pay attention to your anesthesia services for radiology and abortion procedures.

      NCCI version 13.1, effective April 1 through June 30, includes only one mutually exclusive edit for anesthesia, and it's self-explanatory: you cannot report 01966 (Anesthesia for induced abortion procedures) and 01995 (Anesthesia for incomplete or missed abortion procedures) during the same session.

Non-Mutual Edits Target Category III

      Non-mutually exclusive edits list a few anesthesia codes as components of T or G codes, with the rationale that the surgical procedure includes anesthesia. Comprehensive codes in these pairings are 0144T (Computed tomography, heart, without contrast material, including image postprocessing and quantitative evaluation of coronary calcium) and 0145T-0150T (Computed tomo-graphy, heart, without contrast material followed by contrast material[s] and further sections, including cardiac gating and 3D image processing ...). The new edits list the following anesthesia codes as components of 0144T-0150T:

      •  01916 -- Anesthesia for diagnostic arteriography/ venography

      •  01922 -- Anesthesia for non-invasive imaging or radiation therapy

      •  01924 -- Anesthesia for therapeutic interventional radiologic procedures involving the arterial system;                    not otherwise specified

      •  01930 -- Anesthesia for therapeutic interventional radiologic procedures involving the venous/                          lymphatic system (not to include access to the central circulation); not otherwise specified. 

      Other non-mutually exclusive edits target HCPCS/CPT pairs. Code G0392 (Transluminal balloon angioplasty, percutaneous; for maintenance of hemodialysis access, arteriovenous fistula or graft; arterial) includes 01924 as part of the surgical procedure. In the same way, the edits say G0393 (... venous) includes 01930. 

      Deletion heads-up: This round of NCCI deletes a few past edits -- meaning you can code the services together if the situation arises. Before getting too excited, however, notice that you probably won't report the services together anyway because one is a pathology/laboratory procedure.

            Past edits listed 82270 (Blood, occult, by peroxidase activity [e.g., guaiac], qualitative; feces, consecutive collected specimens with single determination, for colorectal neoplasm screening [i.e., patient was provided three cards or single triple card for consecutive collection]) as a component of several anesthesia codes (such as 00100, Anesthesia for procedures on salivary glands, including biopsy; 00140, Anesthesia for procedures on eye; not otherwise specified; and 00144, ... corneal transplant).