Wiki Foley Catheter - Can anyone help with my billing

[mslori7]

Hi,

Can anyone help with my billing question for foley catheters done in the ER, I guess the biggest problem is when to bill for foley catheters in the ER? Some of the auditors are getting conflicting information about the usage of 51701, 51702 and 51703. If anyone have any information in regards to when to bill for these cpt codes in the ER I will really appreciate your input.

Thanks,

Lori

 

[eadun2000]

51701 is for a straight cath for urine specimen only... also known as an "in and out".
51702 is for a Foley cath.. in other words it stays in longer and the balloon is inflated.
51703 is only used for a complicated Foley. Most often it is because of anatomy that complicates the procedure.

Hope this helps.

 

[allenm]

urine specimen collection via catheter

51701 leads me to P9612 for urine specimen collection only.

 

[Amy Pritchett]

The "Rule of Thumb" for foley catheters in the ED are as follows:

If the foley is inserted just to obtain a urine specimen "in-and-out" cath, then do not charge for this.

If the patient leaves with the foley in place, then code the 51702.

Hope this helps