Anesthesia Coding Alert

Answer: When your providers administer a block, they are performing a surgical service rather than an anesthesia service. That means you don’t need to consider the “anesthesia values” such as the RVU (relative value units) assigned to anesthesia codes by the American Society of Anesthesiologists.

Instead, you simply report the appropriate service code instead of an anesthesia code. For a paraspinous block, you’ll submit:

• 64461 (Paravertebral block (PVB) (paraspinous block), thoracic; single injection site (includes imaging guidance, when performed))
• +64462 (Paravertebral block (PVB) (paraspinous block), thoracic; second and any additional injection site(s) (includes imaging guidance, when performed) (List separately in addition to code for primary procedure))

According to CPT^® Assistant, Volume 28, Issue 1, report an erector spinae plane block with 64999 (Unlisted procedure, nervous system).

None of these codes have anesthesia RVUs assigned to them because patients typically do not need anesthesia when receiving these injections.