Wiki 36215 selective catheter placement

[genacodes]

When doing a selective cathater placement, on a rt and left artery is it appropriate to bill two lines (one unit each line) with a rt and lt, respectively....
or should we bill one line with 2 units, mod rt, lt?

 

[kevbshields]

What is the service?

Typically I prefer to code with a line item for each selective cath service (e.g., RT and LT).

 

[bkiesecker]

be cautious to make sure you are dealing with two vascular family's when using RT and LT . i would agree with billing per selective placement

 

[Davistm]

Medicare accepts only modifier 59 for catheter placements above the diaphram [36215 - 36217]. Claims with modifier 50 or RT/LT will be denied. If more than one arterial family is catheterized, report the family with the highest order catheterization without a modifier and each additional family with modifier 59. For example, if the physician selectively catheterized the right subclavian, left common carotid and left vertebral arteries, coding for Medicare would be: 36216 [RT SUBCL], 36216-59 [LT VERT] and 36215-59 [LCC].

Commercial payers may or may not follow Medicare coding rules for above the diaphram catheterization. You will have to contact each payer for coding guidance.

Terry