tci ED Coding & Reimbursement Alert - 2003 Issue 2

When You Can Report Conscious Sedation as Anesthesia

It seems too good to be true you can report an anesthesia code for conscious sedation administered by an emergency physician. Under certain circumstances, the substitution is allowed, though you should employ it with caution. Conscious sedation is a medically controlled state of depressed consciousness, during which the patient maintains control over the airway and can usually respond to verbal commands, says Jan Loomis, director of coding and documentation at TeamHealth West, Pleasanton, Calif. But for anesthesia services, the physician may actually control the patient's airway, she says. There is a spectrum of potential consciousness states for anesthesia. For...

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