Anesthesia Coding Alert

Question: What anesthesia code applies to transthoracic echocardiography (TTE) on a small child?


New Mexico Subscriber


Answer: CPT includes several codes for TTE (93303-93308, Transthoracic echocardiography ...). None of the codes crosswalks to an official anesthesia code, however, because patients do not normally need anesthesia during TTE procedures.

The physician probably requested anesthesia in this case because of the patient's age. The most appropriate code for you to report is 01922 (Anesthesia for non-invasive imaging or radiation therapy).

Your claim form includes documentation of the patient's age, but you might want to mention the patient's age again in the remarks box. Consider appending modifier 23 (Unusual anesthesia) to 01922 as a heads-up to the carrier and include documentation supporting the need for anesthesia (such as a letter of medical necessity and an explanation of why you selected 01922).