Reader Questions:
Report 77003 With 27096 Now, But Not In 2012
Published on Sun Nov 27, 2011
Question:Our pain management specialist often administers bilateral sacroiliac injections. I'm new to pain management coding but am not sure our previous biller reported the service correctly. What is the correct way to submit bilateral injections with fluoroscopic guidance?Mississippi SubscriberAnswer:Begin with 27096 (Injection procedure for sacroiliac joint, arthrography and/or anesthetic/steroid) for the SI injection. Because your specialist administered bilateral injections, check the payer's policy regarding how to report the service. Some payers require you to append modifier 50 (Bilateral procedure) to 27096 to indicate bilateral injections. Other payers require 27096 on two separate lines on the claim, with modifier LT (Left side) appended to one and modifier RT (Right side) appended to the other. Report the fluoroscopic guidance with CPT 77003 (Fluoroscopic guidance and localization of needle or catheter tip for spine or paraspinous diagnostic or therapeutic injection procedures [epidural, subarachnoid, or sacroiliac joint], including neurolytic agent destruction). CPT® guidelines direct [...]