|
|
|
|
TEE Codes Unbundled In April 18 Reversal April 22, 2003 - The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has reversed an earlier decision to bundle intraoperative transesophageal echocardiography (TEE) with other anesthesia service or CPT codes. CMS will modify the National Correct Coding Initiative (NCCI) edits that have been causing claims for TEE to be rejected since April 1. The change will be implemented on July 1, 2003, retroactive to April 1, since NCCI software updates occur on a quarterly basis. Claims for the probe placement when a diagnostic TEE is performed during anesthesia, as they have in the past, will be reported using the following codes: 93312 (echocardiography, transesophageal, real time with 2D image documentation, with or without M-mode recording; including probe placement, image acquisition, interpretation and report), 93313 (placement of probe only), and 93314 (image acquisition, interpretation and report only), 93315 (transesophageal echocardiography, congenital cardiac anomalies; including probe placement, image acquisition, interpretation and report), and 93316 (transesophageal echocardiography, congenital cardiac anomalies; placement of probe only) and 93317 (image acquisition, interpretation and report only). If the TEE probe is used solely for monitoring, its placement is not separately reportable. However, if the patient reqires a diagnostic TEE by the anesthesiologist, both the placement of the probe and the interpretation may be reported. The anesthesia log should clearly indicate whether or not the probe served as a diagnostic tool. After July 1, South Oakland Services will begin resubmitting claims, which may have been denied for payment due to the previous rule. (For more information, see related story in April 7 Status, or visit www.asahq.org)
|
|
| ||||||||