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Cardiology Coding Alert

You Be the Coder:

Report 93923 Twice for Bilateral Studies

Published on Mon May 24, 2010

Question: My cardiologist performed complete multi-level bilateral ankle/brachial indices on a patient's arms and legs. How many times can I report this procedure?Maine SubscriberAnswer: You should report 93923 (Non-invasive physiologic studies of upper or lower extremity arteries, multiple levels or with provocative functional maneuvers, complete bilateral study [e.g., segmental blood pressure measurements, segmental Doppler waveform analysis, segmental volume plethysmography, segmental transcutaneous oxygen tension measurements, measurements with postural provocative tests,measurements with reactive hyperemia]) twice.Here's why: AMA's CPT Assistant (June 2001) explains that the use of the word "or" in the descriptor (... studies of upper or lower extremity arteries ...) means that you should report 93923 once for the arms and once for the legs.The same rule applies to 93922 (Noninvasive physiologic studies of upper or lower extremity arteries, single level, bilateral [eg, ankle/brachial indices, Doppler waveform analysis, volume plethysmography, transcutaneous oxygen tension measurement]). Single-level bilateral studies of the arms and [...]
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