As a cardiology coder, you may be bowled over by various CPT coding questions
. For instance, you may find yourself bowled over by questions such as:
Is it ok to report conscious sedation for a cardiac catheterization?
The answer: CPT guidelines and correct coding initiative (CCI) edits will keep you from reporting conscious sedation with most cardiac catheterization codes.
CPT: CPT makes use of a symbol that looks like a circle with a dot in the center in order to identify codes which CPT considers to include sedation as part of the procedure. As a consequence, you shouldnt report moderate sedation alongside the service. If you check the cardiac catheterization section of CPT, you will see the symbol beside 93501 and 93505-93530 as well as all of the injection procedure codes.
CCI edits: CCI edits bundle 99143-99145 into the same cardiac cath codes as showed in the CPT manual.
Term tip: According to CPT guidelines, moderate or conscious sedation is a drug-induced depression of consciousness that allows patients to maintain their airways and ability to respond to stimulation or verbal commands.
For more CPT and CCI information, sign up for a one-stop Medical Coding website. When you sign up for one, youll have access to CPT assistant and CCI alert tools to help when you are bowled over by coding questions. Onboard such a site, you can take up a CPT Assistant subscription and use the CCI tool to code right. With the help of the CPT Assistant tool, you can get the same information you get from AMA.