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General Surgery Coding Alert

You Be the Coder:

Devil is in the Details for Port Placement Codes

Published on Fri Oct 17, 2014

Question: When our surgeon places a port for chemotherapy access, which procedure code should I report?

Tennessee Subscriber

Answer: A definitive answer would require more information, because several codes are available, depending on the details of the case. 
 
You need to know the following information to select the proper code for venous access procedures:
  • What is the patient age (less than 5 years, or 5 years or older?) 
  • Is the catheter tunneled or not? 
  • Is the line centrally placed or peripherally placed?
  • Is there a port or pump?
Because your question involves your surgeon placing a port, here are some of the code options you have:
  • 36561 — Insertion of tunneled centrally inserted central venous access device, with subcutaneous port; age 5 years or older
  • 36566 — Insertion of tunneled centrally inserted central venous access device, requiring 2 catheters via 2 separate venous access sites; with subcutaneous port(s)
  • 36571 — Insertion of peripherally inserted central venous access device, with subcutaneous port; age 5 years or older.
If none of those codes seem correct for your clinical scenario, you’ll find more codes to choose from in the range 36555-36571. 

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