Anesthesia Coding Alert

Reader Questions:

Begin Your Venous Insufficiency Diagnosis Search with I87.2

Question: A CRNA performed an IV insertion on a patient who was in the GI lab. The reason given for her inserting the IV was “difficult IV in GI lab for procedure.” What would be the best diagnosis?

Pennsylvania Subscriber

Answer: If “difficult IV in GI lab for procedure” is the only documentation you have supporting the IV insertion, choose diagnosis I87.2 (Venous insufficiency (chronic) (peripheral)) or a complication code if nothing else seems to accurately reflect the service. If you find other details in the documentation that can help you select a more specific diagnosis, choose that instead. The more you can emphasize to your providers that their detailed documentation helps you code more accurately, the better.


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