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Wiki DBS intra-operative programming

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tboback

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When my doctor does 61885 for initial placement or batter replacement, he does programming and/or reprogramming. Which is the correct code?

95971 or 95978?
 
Dbs

It should be 95978 for Deep Brain - it's stated right in CPT description. 95971 is for simple spinal or peripheral stimulators.
 
Hi - I wanted to follow-up on this thread.

CPT Assistant from October 2012 says that 95971 could be used for deep brain stimulators when it is simple programming changes to 3 or less parameters. See below:

Frequently Asked Questions:Medicine: Neurostimulators, Analysis-Programming
Question: How should simple reprogramming be reported for cranial nerve neurostimulators? Code 95971 includes spinal cord and peripheral nerves, but not cranial nerves.
Answer: The simple analysis and programming code (95971) also includes cranial nerve neurostimulator pulse generator/ transmitter or deep brain neurostimulation and should be used in this instance.

So my question is if interoperative programming is done with 4 or more changes (e.g. complex programming), can you bill 95978 which the descriptor says "initial programming" not "intraoperative" like 95971.
 
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