Part B Insider (Multispecialty) Coding Alert

Published on Thu Aug 07, 2003 PDF

It's not just the NCCI edits that restrict billing for other services with EUS. The CPT guidelines from the American Medical Association forbid billing for 76975 (Gastrointestinal endoscopic ultrasound, supervision and interpretation) with 43242 (Endoscopy with transendoscopic ultrasound-guided intramural or transmural fine needle aspiration/biopsy[s]). But you still can bill 76975 with 43259 (Esophagogastroduo-denoscopy with endoscopic ultrasound examination), says Joel Brill. But don't expect this discrepancy to escape the notice of policymakers forever, he says.
 
Other services, such as Doppler studies and celiac nerve blocks, have become harder to bill with EUS as well, Brill says.