Radiology Coding Alert

Question: Our physician administered a sacroiliac steroid injection along with 1cc of 1 percent lidocaine. How should we code the lidocaine?

Washington Subscriber

Answer: From a coding perspective, the most appropriate code is J3490 (Unclassified drugs). When using this code, be sure to provide the payer with the information it requires, such as a note on the claim to indicate the drug and its concentration.

Caution: Many payers do not allow separate reimbursement for local anesthesia, as they consider it to be part of the injection procedure.

Also, don't be tempted to use J2001 (Injection, lidocaine HCl for intravenous infusion 10 mg). Code J2001 represents IV infusion of lidocaine, which is used for cardiac arrhythmias, for example, and not as a local anesthetic.