Primary Care Coding Alert

Question: Can I bill separately for ankle brachial index (ABI) on top of the E/M service code? New Mexico Subscriber Answer: It depends on the type of equipment used during the procedure. If your ABI machine (for instance, a Doppler ultrasound, which is commonly known as the Doppler probe) has printed outputs then consider using this code: • 93922 -- Noninvasive physiologic studies of upper or lower extremity arteries, single level, bilateral (e.g., ankle/brachial indices, Doppler waveform analysis, volume plethysmography, transcutaneous oxygen tension measurement). ABI as a form of vascular study is used to evaluate blood pressure in the lower extremities as compared to the upper extremities in order to evaluate presence of arterial or venous complications arising from other metabolic or systemic diseases (for instance diabetes mellitus, PAD, etc.). Vascular studies must have a printout or a hard copy for this to be billable. CPT states, "Vascular studies include patient [...]