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Anesthesia Coding Alert

Reader Question:

Deciding Between 00630 and 00670 Hinges on Instrumentation

Published on Tue Mar 13, 2012

Question: The CRNA provided anesthesia during direct lateral interbody fusion with posterolateral fusion. It was a one-level procedure with no instrumentation. What's the correct anesthesia code? Washington SubscriberAnswer: You should submit 00630 (Anesthesia for procedures in lumbar region; not otherwise specified). If the procedure included instrumentation, you would choose 00670 (Anesthesia for extensive spine and spinal cord procedures [e.g., spinal instrumentation or vascular procedures]) instead. Because you're submitting a claim for CRNA service, remember to include the appropriate performance modifier reflecting whether the service was medically directed by a physician. Your options include: QX -- CRNA service: with medical direction by a physician QZ -- CRNA service: without medical direction by a physician.
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