Cardiology Coding Alert

Question: A pediatrician sent a patient to us because he suspected a congenital heart defect. The cardiologist performed an echo but did not find an anomaly. Should I report a congenital echo code for this service? Hawaii Subscriber Answer: When the cardiologist performs echocardiography for a suspected congenital anomaly, but does not find one, you should not report a congenital echo code. Support: CPT Assistant (December 1997) explains that you should not use the congenital echo codes "when a congenital heart disease is suspected, but is not found on echocardiography evaluation. In this case, the noncongenital echocardiography codes should be used." So instead of 93303-93304 (Transthoracic echocardiography for congenital cardiac anomalies ...) or 93315-93317 (Transesophageal echocardiography for congenital cardiac anomalies ...), you should report a code such as 93306-93308 (Echocardiography, transthoracic ...) or 93312-93314 (Echocardiography, transesophageal ...). Tip: Don't let clinical significance of the anomaly affect your code. If the [...]