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Anesthesia Coding Alert

Reader Question:

Choose J3490 -- Not J2001 -- for SI Lidocaine Injection

Published on Wed Aug 08, 2012

Question: Our physician administered a sacroiliac steroid injection using 1cc of 1 percent Lidocaine. How should we code it?Washington Subscriber Answer: A quick glance might make you think J2001 (Injection, Lidocaine HCl for intravenous infusion 10 mg) might be a possibility, but don't go that route. Code J2001 represents IV infusion of Lidocaine, which is used for cardiac arrhythmias and not as a local anesthetic. A better choice might be J3490 (Unclassified drugs) with a note in Box 19 to indicate the drug and its concentration. Caution: Many payers do not allow separate reimbursement for local anesthesia, as they consider it to be part of the injection procedure.
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