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Anesthesia Coding Alert

Reader Questions:

Availability is Key to Coding Standby

Published on Tue Feb 02, 2010

Question: One of our anesthesiologists was requested to be on standby for a cardiologist who was performing a coronary angiogram. The physician wanted him there in case an emergency occurred and he would be needed to induce the patient. Nothing happened though. How do I code for the time he was on standby? Florida Subscriber Answer: The E/M section of CPT shows only one code for standby time: 99360 (Physician standby service, requiring prolonged physician attendance, each 30 minutes [e.g., operative standby, standby for frozen section, for cesarean/high-risk delivery, for monitoring EEG]). This code only represents availability, however, not patient care. You can report standby service for this case, but since many payers do not reimburse for this service, you will need to include supporting documentation and adhere to the following guidelines: 1. You cannot report standby services if your physician is already on-call, if he is medically directing other [...]
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