Advanced Search

Anesthesia Coding Alert

CCI 17.2:

Think Twice Before Reporting Neonatal Hypothermia During Heart Procedures

Published on Tue Aug 02, 2011

Latest CCI edits weigh in on hypothermia, disallow certain HCPCS codes with joint, somatic nerve injections. If your anesthesiologist performs controlled hypothermia during neonatal heart surgery cases, only report the anesthesia code, not the "T" code for hypothermia. The hypothermia change (plus edits related to injection procedures) went into effect July 1, thanks to the latest round of Correct Coding Initiative (CCI) edits. Anesthesia Overrides Hypothermia Every edit pair related to anesthesia focuses on codes 0260T (Total body systemic hypothermia, per day, in the neonate 28 days of age or younger) and 0261T (Selective head hypothermia, per day, in the neonate 28 days of age or younger). The edits related to 0260T and 0261T use the explanation "Misuse of column two code with column one code." CCI 17.2 outlines that you should not report neonatal hypothermia codes with the cardiac anesthesia codes: 00560 -- Anesthesia for procedures on heart, pericardial sac, [...]
You’ve reached your limit of free articles. Already a subscriber? Log in.
Not a subscriber? Subscribe today to continue reading this article. Plus, you’ll get:
  • Simple explanations of current healthcare regulations and payer programs
  • Real-world reporting scenarios solved by our expert coders
  • Industry news, such as MAC and RAC activities, the OIG Work Plan, and CERT reports
  • Instant access to every article ever published in your eNewsletter
  • 6 annual AAPC-approved CEUs*
  • The latest updates for CPT®, ICD-10-CM, HCPCS Level II, NCCI edits, modifiers, compliance, technology, practice management, and more
*CEUs available with select eNewsletters.

Other Articles in this issue of

Anesthesia Coding Alert

View All