Wiki Confusion billing vein harvest

[1073358]

I am new to CT surgery and trying to learn stuff. I was reading CPT book. Under code 33508 it says that we should use 33508 in conjunction with 33510-33516. Then if I read below under the heading of Venous Grafting only for CA bypass it says" procurement of the saphenous vein is included in the description of the work for 33510-33516 and should NOT be reported as seperate service or co surgery"

One sentance says its included one says bill. I am SOOOOO confused. Can anyone clarify this?

 

[LLovett]

Welcome to the fun of coding CVT surgery.

33508 is the method used to harvest not the harvest itself. This just indicates it was done with video assistance. The note should state how they did it. Mine generally say VATS (which would be the above code) or they used a SaphLite (which is not video assisted and does not qualify). So you can bill it with those codes if it was done and documented.

Hope this helps

Laura, CPC

 

[dzanoni]

I too had the same confusion when I first started, but since then if the op note states the saphenous vein was harvested using endoscopic technique then I bill the 33508. We are getting paid for this code, and I use it on a regular basis.

Good Luck!