Cardiology Coding Alert

Question: How should I code the following case? The electrophysiologist (EP) performed an ablation procedure, placing a catheter retrogradely across the aortic valve, performing programmed atrial and ventricular stimulation, and ablated the accessory pathway. The patient has Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome and paroxysmal supraventricular tachycardia. She had a diagnostic electrophysiology study at a previous encounter that indicated the tachycardia's source was the left free wall accessory pathway. Louisiana SubscriberAnswer: Because the EP ablated an atrioventricular accessory pathway, you should report 93651 (Intracardiac catheter ablation of arrhythmogenic focus; for treatment of supraventricular tachycardia by ablation of fast or slow atrioventricular pathways, accessory atrioventricular connections or other atrial foci, singly or in combination).Remember: You'll use ablation codes only once, regardless of the number of ablations the physician performs at a specific site, CPT guidelines instruct. For instance, if the physician ablates more than one area of the supraventricular region, you should still report 93651 [...]