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Pulmonology Coding Alert

READER QUESTIONS:

Change Your Thinking on Tracheotomy Tubes

Published on Wed Mar 15, 2006

Question: Our doctors periodically change patients' tracheotomy tubes. I'm not clear on which CPT code to use to report the tube changes. Would you advise me?


Tennessee Subscriber
Answer: CPT doesn't offer a code for routine changing of a tracheotomy tube. If your pulmonologist changes a patient's tracheotomy tube, you should just report the appropriate E/M service code for the physician's visit with the patient.

Pitfall: You might think 31502 (Tracheotomy tube prior to establishment of fistula tract) is an appropriate code to report. That isn't the case, however. The only time you should use 31502 is when your pulmonologist changes the tracheotomy tube before a new tracheotomy fistula has had a chance to mature.

In this case, the tube change would have to occur within a few days after the physician performed the tracheotomy. Then, you could report 31502.
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