Wiki Can you bill CPT 31573 with 31579?

[jnemunoz]

Can you bill CPT 31573 Laryngoscopy, flexible; with therapeutic injection(s) and CPT 31579 Laryngoscopy, flexible or rigid telescopic, with stroboscopy together? I have Optum Encoder Pro and it says there is NO CCI conflicts. But United Health Care is denying. Does anyone have any suggestions or has any one billed the same? I'm wondering if it's inclusive. Thank you for your help!

 

[nsteinhauser]

You'd think because it was 2 different instruments, the strobe light and the laryngeal injecting needle, that you would be able to separately code. 31573 is "flexible" laryngoscopy and 31579 is "flexible or rigid". Wonder if UHC thinks you shouldn't bill flexible with (potentially) rigid?
NCCI Policy Manual (page V-7, #8) says you can't bill flexible with DIRECT laryngoscopy but a direct can be either flexible or rigid, so I don't know what they mean by that.
Sorry - no help.