Anesthesia Coding Alert

Question: One of our providers excised a malignant lesion from a patient’s forearm under MAC anesthesia. I cannot find a code to bill the MAC under; what’s your advice?

Mississippi Subscriber

Answer: The correct code for anesthesia during an excision is 00400 (Anesthesia for procedures on the integumentary system on the extremities, anterior trunk and perineum; not otherwise specified). If your provider administered monitored anesthesia care (MAC) during the procedure, report 00400 with the appropriate MAC modifier(s) as indicated by the insurance policy:

• QS – Monitored anesthesia care services
• G8 – Monitored anesthesia care (MAC) for deep complex, complicated, or markedly invasive surgical procedure
• G9 – Monitored anesthesia care for patient who has history of severe cardiopulmonary condition.