Cardiology Coding Alert

Question: If my cardiologist places drug eluting and non-drug eluting stents in the same vessel (LAD), should I code both stents even though they are in the same vessel? What codes should I use?

Rhode Island Subscriber

Answer: You should use 92980 (Transcatheter placement of an intracoronary stent[s], percutaneous, with or without other therapeutic intervention, any method; single vessel) with modifier LD (Left anterior descending, or LAD).

You'll only report this code, no matter what type of stent(s) your cardiologist uses. If the stents are going in the same vessel, you should only code the placements once.