Question: Can we get paid separately for conscious sedation administered during an upper gastrointestinal endoscopy (EGD)? A woman with severe, persistent pain in her upper-right abdomen reported to our gastroenterologist. The gastroenterologist performed an EGD with intravenous conscious sedation to alleviate the woman's pain, but I am not sure whether I should report the sedation.
South Dakota Subscriber
Answer: Whether you report the sedation depends on the carrier. Medicare will not reimburse for conscious sedation during an EGD, so do not try with any of its carriers.
For Medicare payers, you should:
With private payers, you may be able to gain payment if your contract calls for conscious sedation payment when the physicians uses it during an EGD. First, find out if your carrier accepts conscious sedation codes in this type of encounter.
If the carrier accepts the codes with EGD codes, then you should: