Anesthesia Coding Alert

Question: An expectant mom came to the hospital at the 37-week mark and was given an epidural. It was then removed with a time of 2036-0840 without her delivering. How should we bill this? One coder in our office says to use 62326 but another says 01967.

South Carolina Subscriber

Answer: Coding for labor and delivery cases can get tricky, especially since the anesthesia service can change from what is originally expected.

When no delivery occurs and the patient is sent home, many practices report 01967 (Neuraxial labor analgesia/ anesthesia for planned vaginal delivery (this includes any repeat subarachnoid needle placement and drug injection and/or any necessary replacement of an epidural catheter during labor)) with modifier 53 (Discontinued procedure).

Explanation: It’s better to report 01967 in this situation than 62326 (Injection(s), including indwelling catheter placement, continuous infusion or intermittent bolus, of diagnostic or therapeutic substance(s) (eg, anesthetic, antispasmodic, opioid, steroid, other solution), not including neurolytic substances, interlaminar epidural or subarachnoid, lumbar or sacral (caudal); without imaging guidance).

Plus: Years ago, coders reported 62319 (the predecessor to 62326) for labor epidurals. However, 62326 is set as a flat-fee procedure code and is no longer intended for labor epidurals. Code 01967 is anesthesia-specific and includes time, so is a better choice.