Anesthesia Coding Alert

Question: Our physician provided anesthesia while another physician inserted a vertebral artery catheter (36100). The insurance company denied the claim when we submitted 00320 with Z99.11 as the primary diagnosis. What did we do wrong?

California Subscriber

Answer: Surgical code 36100 (Introduction of needle or intracatheter, carotid or vertebral artery) crosses to 01916 (Anesthesia for diagnostic arteriography/venography).

Check with your physician to see if 01916 better represents the procedure than 00320 as reported.

For the diagnosis, Z99.11 (Dependence on respirator [ventilator] status) isn’t adequate for the procedure. Diagnosis Z99.11 is considered a secondary diagnosis, which means it supports another, more detailed diagnosis. Talk with your physician or check the operative report for an appropriate primary diagnosis before adding Z99.11 to your claim.

Plus: Also code for any follow-up examination that occurs in conjunction with Z99.11. You’ll look to categories Z08 and Z09 for options.