ED Coding and Reimbursement Alert

Question: If a patient in the ED has a mandible fracture and the physician preformed intubation to protect the airway, can I report 31500? Since the decision to intubate was for airway protection, not "emergency procedure," I'm unsure which code to report.

Arizona Subscriber

Answer: You can still report 31500 (Intubation, endotracheal, emergency procedure). All unplanned intubations in the ED qualify as emergent; elective intubations are never done in the ED. An anesthesiologist usually performs an elective intubation, meeting the patient prior to a procedure, usually on a different date of service.

You're right to question whether the scenario is emergent, rather than just urgent. However, your physician still performed an emergent procedure because if the physician had waited and not performed intubation, the situation would have become emergent.