Radiology Coding Alert

Question: Our physician did a transesophageal echo to aid cardiac monitoring. How can we report these services?

Washington Subscriber

Answer: For Transesophageal Echocardiography (TEE) monitoring, you submit code 93318 (Echocardiography, transesophageal [TEE] for monitoring purposes, including probe placement, real time 2-dimensional image acquisition and interpretation leading to ongoing [continuous] assessment of [dynamically changing] cardiac pumping function and to therapeutic measures on an immediate time basis).

TEE for intervention: You submit code 93355 (Echocardiography, transesophageal [TEE] for guidance of a transcatheter intracardiac or great vessel[s] structural intervention[s] [e.g.,TAVR, transcathether pulmonary valve replacement, mitral valve repair, paravalvular regurgitation repair, left atrial appendage occlusion/closure, ventricular septal defect closure] [peri-and intra-procedural], real-time image acquisition and documentation, guidance with quantitative measurements, probe manipulation, interpretation, and report, including diagnostic transesophageal echocardiography and, when performed, administration of ultrasound contrast, Doppler, color flow, and 3D) for TEE with intervention procedures.

Payer preference: Check with your payers before you submit the claims for TEE monitoring.