Anesthesia Coding Alert

Question: Our CRNA provided anesthesia during a 14-year-old autistic patient’s IV infusion. She received a loading dose of Gammagard (55gm IV) over a four-hour period, for three consecutive days. What would be the appropriate procedure code?

Maryland Subscriber

Answer: Because of the patient’s age and her autism, you could try submitting the CRNA’s service with documented anesthesia time and code 01999 (Unlisted anesthesia procedure[s]) with supporting reports. The primary diagnosis would be the reason for the IV infusion. You could include autism as a secondary diagnosis to explain why the anesthesia was medically necessary.

Sometimes when you file a claim for anesthesia during a procedure that does not usually require it, you can append modifier 23 (Unusual anesthesia). You do not indicate that the CRNA administered general anesthesia during the procedure, however, so you probably don’t have reason to report modifier 23.