Cardiology Coding Alert

Question: My cardiologist did aortocoronary-venous bypass graft angiography four times. I reported 93540 only once. My cardiologist is questioning this, thinking I should report it four times. Who is correct?


New York Subscriber

Answer: You are correct because the description of 93540 (Injection procedure during cardiac catheterization; for selective opacification of aortocoronary venous bypass grafts, one or more coronary arteries) states "one or more coronary arteries."

Also, keep in mind that regardless of how many injections your cardiologist performs, you can report the supervision and interpretation code only once (93556-26, Imaging supervision, interpretation and report for injection procedure[s] during cardiac catheterization; pulmonary angiography, aortography, and/or selective coronary angiography including venous bypass grafts and arterial conduits [whether native or used in bypass]).