Pediatric Coding Alert

Infant and child transports require separate codes

Looking for a code to use when the pediatrician accompanies a critically ill child to another hospital? Surprise: Codes 99291-99292 now reflect this service.

You should report 99291-99292 for hourly critical care services that your pediatrician provides to a child over 24 months old, says Richard A. Molteni, MD, a neonatologist and medical director at Children's Hospital and Regional Medical Center in Seattle. "Codes 99291-99292 include providing critical care services in the emergency room, as well as during an interfacility transport," he says.

When CPT Codes 2003 created 99289-99290 for interfacility transports of children 2 years and younger, the adult hourly critical care codes also became transportation codes, Molteni says. That's what the new green introductory critical care services notes mean. You should report "99291-99292 for the physician's attendance during the transport ... for physician transport services of critically ill or critically injured pediatric patients 24 months of age or less see 99289, 99290," CPT states.


To bill the age-appropriate transport code, use the following chart.