Neurosurgery Coding Alert

Check if your physician documents extended or long-term recording.

You may be missing out on payments for any electroencephalograms (EEGs) that your physician is doing. EEGs are a simple assessment your physician may do in a patient with neurological conditions. Make an attempt to answer these 5 key questions to test your knowledge for EEG codes. For answers to these questions, turn to page 76.

Question 1: Which of the following codes do you report for EEG recording in awake and asleep state?

a) 95816
b) 95819
c) 95822
d) 95816 and 95819

Question 2: How do you report when your physician provides an additional E/M service on same day when he does an EEG?

a) EEG code with E/M code
b) EEG code only
c) EEG code and E/M code with modifier 25
d) Cannot report EEG and E/M on same day

Question 3: What qualifies as ‘extended’ EEG?

a) EEG lasting more than 40 minutes
b) EEG lasting more than 15 minutes
c) EEG covering more than 1 lobe assessment
d) EEG done in 2 or more sessions

Question 4: Which of the following codes is a code that you can report for long-term EEG?

a) 95816
b) 95819
c) 95822
d) 95951

Question 5: How do you report EEG recordings that last less than 24 hours?

a) For recording 12 hours or less, use modifier 52 with long-term monitoring code
b) For recording 15 hours or less, use modifier 52 with long-term monitoring code
c) For recording 18 hours or less, use modifier 52 with long-term monitoring code
d) None of the above.