Cardiology Coding Alert

The April 2003 Cardiology Coding Alert article "Drug-Eluting Stents Open Channels for Increased Reimbursement Flow" stated that "after April 1, you should report G0290 (Transcatheter placement of a drug-eluting intracoronary stent[s], percutaneous, with or without other therapeutic intervention, any method; single vessel) when the physician inserts a drug-eluting stent (DES) into a single coronary vessel and G0291 (... each additional vessel) for DES insertion in each additional vessel.

CMS is now advising that G0290 and G0291 should be reported by hospitals. Certain Medicare carriers, however, are listing these G codes as appropriate for physician billing, so consult your local medical review policies and local Medicare carriers for specific direction on reporting these codes.