Anesthesia Coding Alert

Question: Is transesophageal echocardiography (93315) included in basic anesthesia administration services covered in 00100? Nebraska Subscriber Answer: According to CPT Assistant March 2006, you should not include the placement of an invasive monitoring form -- such as an intra-arterial line or a central venous lines, and transesophageal echocardiography (TEE) procedures -- in basic anesthesia administration services represented by 00100-01999. Transesophageal echocardiography codes include: • 93312 -- Echocardiography, transesophageal, real time with image documentation (2D) (with or without M-mode recording); including probe placement, image acquisition, interpretation and report • 93313 -- ... placement of transesophageal probe only • 93314 -- ... image acquisition, interpretation and report only • 93315 -- Transesophageal echocardiography for congenital cardiac anomalies; including probe placement, image acquisition, interpretation and report • 93316 -- ... placement of transesophageal probe only • 93317 -- ... image acquisition, interpretation and report only. When the physician performs these procedures, report them separately for your anesthesiologist according to the CPT [...]