Gastroenterology Coding Alert

Question: I'm coding an ERCP, and the doctor made numerous attempts with the catheter tip and with the guidewire -- but these failed. Then he used the standard Hydratome, but over the course of an hour, the physician did not perform a single direct cannulation of either the common bile duct or pancreatic duct, nor did he insert the wire or contrast. What modifier should I use for this?

Alaska Subscriber

Answer: The formal name for an ERCP is an endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography, from which you can see that a cholangiogram (visualization of the bile ducts) and pancreatogram (visualization of the pancreatic ducts) are integral parts of the standard procedure. If your gastroenterologist runs into problems visualizing both sets of ducts (bile and pancreatic), she performed an incomplete procedure.

You have two modifiers that you could attach to the ERCP code to indicate an incomplete procedure: modifier 52 (Reduced services) or modifier 53 (Discontinued procedure).

Commercial payers that strictly follow CPT coding principles will most likely require modifier 52. CPT states that you should use this modifier when "under certain circumstances a service or the procedure is partially reduced or eliminated at the physician's discretion."

Because the CPT definition for modifier 53 states that you should use it when extenuating circumstances threaten the patient's well-being, you may need to indicate that the physician started the ERCP but discontinued it. Some Medicare carriers may accept this method.

The catch: Some carriers may require modifier 53 as they do for an incomplete colonoscopy. The only way to know for sure is to check with your carrier.

Because the visualization of the ducts is an important part of the ERCP procedure, however, you should be prepared to receive no reimbursement or a significantly reduced payment for a procedure when your physician merely attempted but did not achieve the full procedure -- no matter how long the attempted procedure lasted.