Specifically, NCCI version 10.1, effective April 1, deletes an edit that bundled 36140 (Introduction of needle or intracatheter; extremity artery) for arterial catheterization into 93501 (Right heart catheterization) for right heart catheterizations.
Deleting this edit makes sense, coding experts say. Code 36140 describes nonselective catheter placement in an extremity artery, whereas physicians perform right heart caths (93501) through a venous system approach.
Note: To read the NCCI edits online, go to http://www.cms.hhs.gov/physicians/cciedits/default.asp.