Anesthesia Coding Alert

Question: What are the primary differences between codes 00560 and 00566? What does the term "direct" coronary bypass grafting mean in 00566's descriptor?

Kentucky Subscriber

Answer: Code 00566 (Anesthesia for direct coronary artery bypass grafting without pump oxygenator) is specifically for procedures on the coronary arteries, such as a coronary artery bypass graft (CABG), without the pump oxygenator. Report 00560 (Anesthesia for procedures on heart, pericardial sac, and great vessels of chest; without pump oxygenator) for all other heart procedures without the pump - for example, a stab wound to the heart. 
 
Some people refer to these cases as "off-bypass" because the anesthesiologist isn't using a cardiopulmonary bypass machine. The anesthesiologist's workload is much higher for cases that do not use the pump oxygenator. Code 00560 is 15 base units, while 00566 is 25 base units.