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ED Coding and Reimbursement Alert

Reader Question:

Form A Line To Learn About The Femoral Line

Published on Tue Dec 18, 2012

Question: A 22-year-old motor-vehicle accident victim reports with multiple injuries and the ED physician provides 84 minutes of care to this critically injured patient. During this time the physician uses ultrasound imaging to place a femoral line (non-tunneled centrally inserted venous catheter). Is the line placement separately reportable, or is it part of the critical care package? Idaho Subscriber Answer: You should carve the line placement service out of the total critical care time, as it is a separately reportable service. The introductory notes for Critical Care Services in CPT® 2013 list several procedures that are included in 99291 -- e.g., chest x-rays (71010, 71015or 71020) and cardiac output studies (93561, 93562) among others. Placement of a femoral line is not on this list. Coding: Let’s say it took the ED physician 13 of those 84 encounter minutes to place the line. On the claim, you would report the following: 99291 [...]
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