Anesthesia Coding Alert

Question: What is the appropriate code for an acoustic exam under anesthesia with a diagnosis of 784.5 (Other speech disturbance)?

Ohio Subscriber

Answer: Code 92585 (Auditory evoked potentials for evoked response audiometry and/or testing of the central nervous system; comprehensive) is the correct surgical code for the acoustic exam. Report 00120 (Anesthesia for procedures on external, middle and inner ear including biopsy; not otherwise specified) as the corresponding anesthesia code.
 
Crosswalk states that this procedure does not normally require anesthesia, so be sure to include thorough documentation to support the anesthesia's necessity.

Consider appending modifier -23 (Unusual anesthesia) to the anesthesia code to help explain the circumstances when anesthesia for the procedure is not the norm. Adding an applicable ICD-9 code for cerebral palsy, mental retardation or other special conditions may also help justify reimbursement for the anesthesia.