Anesthesia Coding Alert

Question: Can we bill for blood pressure monitoring, pulse oximetry, and running a rhythm strip during an injection procedure? Our anesthesiologist used all three during a trigger point injection with ultrasound guidance.

West Virginia Subscriber

Answer: Many procedures require cardiopulmonary monitoring either by the physician performing the procedure or an anesthesia practitioner. These services are integral to the procedure and are not separately reportable. The CCI policy manual states that examples of these services include cardiac monitoring, pulse oximetry, and ventilation management (e.g., 93000-93010, 93040-93042, 94760, 94761, 94770). Because of this, you can only bill for the injection itself with 20552 (Injection[s]; single or multiple trigger point[s], 1 or 2 muscle[s]) and ultrasound guidance with 76942 (Ultrasonic guidance for needle placement [e.g., biopsy, aspiration, injection, localization device], imaging supervision and interpretation).