Anesthesia Coding Alert

Question: How do I report the use of 2 cc of lidocaine used in an injection? I think I’ll be reporting J2003.

Oregon Subscriber

Answer: To report HCPCS code J2003 (Injection, lidocaine hydrochloride, 1 mg) with the amount of lidocaine indicated, you need to be familiar with some metric system conversions. 

AAPC’s Codify instructs coders to report this code once per 1 mg of lidocaine hydrochloride.

Mathematically, 2 cc is the same as 2 mL. As 1 percent lidocaine contains 10 mg/mL of lidocaine, you’ll be reporting 20 mg of lidocaine, which means 20 units of J2003.

Codify also offers these tips when reporting J2003, including the possible use of modifier JW (Drug amount discarded/not administered to any patient):

• “This code represents the supply of the drug. Check coding and individual payer guidelines to determine whether the administration of the drug can also be reported.” 
• “If the dose administered is only part of a single-dose container, and the remainder has to be discarded, you may be able to use modifier JW to report the discarded portion. Check payer guidelines.”

Rachel Dorrell, MA, MS, CPC-A, CPPM, Production Editor, AAPC