Cardiology Coding Alert

Question: Is it OK to report conscious sedation for a cardiac catheterization?

Florida Subscriber

Answer: CPT guidelines and Correct Coding Initiative (CCI) edits will keep you from reporting conscious sedation with most cardiac catheterization codes.

CPT: CPT uses a symbol -- that looks like a circle with a dot in the center -- to identify codes which CPT considers to include conscious sedation as part of the procedure. As a result, you should not report moderate sedation (99143-99145, Moderate sedation services ...) alongside the service. If you check the cardiac catheterization section of CPT, you'll see the symbol beside 93501 and 93505-93530, as well as all of the injection procedure codes (93539-93572).

CCI: CCI edits bundle 99143-99145 into the same cardiac cath codes indicated in the CPT manual.

Term tip: Moderate (or conscious) sedation is "a drug-induced depression of consciousness" that allows patients to maintain their airways and ability to respond to stimulation or verbal commands, CPT guidelines indicate.