Anesthesia Coding Alert

Question: One of our providers is billing 01992-QY and 01992-QX for a diagnostic spinal injection with a time of 6 minutes. Neither the anesthesiologist nor the CRNA performed the actual injection. The documentation supports conscious sedation. Are they both entitled to bill 01992?

New Jersey Subscriber

Answer: Yes, you can bill 01992 (Anesthesia for diagnostic or therapeutic nerve blocks and injections [when block or injection is performed by a different provider]; prone position) for both the anesthesiologist and CRNA with the appropriate modifiers. Append modifier QX (CRNA service: with medical direction by a physician) for the CRNA and modifier QY (Medical direction of one certified registered nurse anesthetist [CRNA] by an anesthesiologist) for the physician.

Code 01992 carries a base of five units. You'll report one unit for time, for a total of six time units on each claim.