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ED Coding and Reimbursement Alert

Reader Question:

Report Anesthesia When Patient's On the Table

Published on Sat Jan 17, 2004

Question: Do code descriptions that include the phrase "requiring anesthesia" refer only to general anesthesia, or do these codes also encompass conscious sedation?
      
Ohio Subscriber
 
Answer: The American Medical Association has expressed the opinion that the "with anesthesia" codes represent services performed in the operating room only. The types of drugs given are not limited to general anesthesia, but also encompass other forms of anesthesia such as regional anesthesia or sedation, in which the physician anesthetizes specific parts of the body.
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