tci General Surgery Coding Alert - 2006 Issue 10

READER QUESTIONS: CPT Bundles Many Services to Critical Care

Question: Our surgeon performed 64 minutes of critical care for a patient in cardiac arrest. During the encounter, the physician also took a chest x-ray and performed ventilatory management. Can we report the chest x-ray and the ventilatory management separately?Wisconsin Subscriber Answer: In this case, you should report only the critical care service. CPT guidelines bundle chest x-rays (71010, 71015 and 71020) and ventilatory management (94656, 94657, 94660 and 94662) into (not separately payable with) critical care codes (99291-99292).On the claim, you should:- report 99291 (Critical care, evaluation and management of the critically ill or critically...

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