Cardiology Coding Alert

Question: I’m new to cardiology, and I recently saw “Swan-Ganz catheter” in my cardiologist’s documentation. Could you please explain what a Swan-Ganz catheter is and what procedure code I should use to report this service?

California Subscriber

Answer: You should report a Swan-Ganz catheter placement with 93503 (Insertion and placement of flow directed catheter (eg, Swan-Ganz) for monitoring purposes)).

A Swan-Ganz catheter (SGC) is designed for specific hemodynamic monitoring and central access. Your provider can use the SGC to monitor pulmonary artery (PA) pressure, plus measure cardiac output and other cardiovascular functions. The catheter has multiple ports for central circulation access, including a regional anesthesia (RA) port, PA port, CVP port, and possibly the main line or “introducer.”

Swan-Ganz line placement is most commonly performed at bedside as a stand-alone procedure.

A Swan-Ganz catheter is also known as a pulmonary artery or PA catheter, says Kelly Dennis, MBA, ACS-AN, CANPC, CHCA, CPC, CPC-I, owner of Perfect Office Solutions in Leesburg, Florida. If your provider documents placement of a PA catheter that you believe is reportable, you’ll submit 93503 (Insertion and placement of flow directed catheter (eg, Swan-Ganz) for monitoring purposes).