jmad456
Guest
Should obstetrical anesthesia (basically the epidural under code 01967) be reimbursed in the same way as anesthesia for a surgery based on the minutes calculated with a conversion factor? We have a anesthesia group who bills the minutes from the start to end even though they are not present the entire time. They are than reimbursed for hours and hours of anesthesia time which results in huge payments, sometimes beyond what the hospital charges for the entire maternity stay.
I Found this link which suggests that code 01967 is for 4 hours or less and if more to add modifier 23. http://www.anesthesiabilling.org/2016/06/anesthesia-during-delivery-cpt-codes.html
This makes me think that these should be reimbursed with a flat rate rather than based on minutes like typical anesthesia.
Scenarios:
• For labor less than 4 hours ending in vaginal delivery : CPT code 01967
• For labor less than 4 hours ending in a cesarean delivery: CPT code 01967 and 01968
• For labor ending in an urgent or emergency cesarean delivery, CPT code 99140 may be billed with CPT code 01967 and 01968
• For labor 4 hours or more ending in a vaginal delivery: CPT code 01967 with modifier 23
• For labor 4 hours or more ending in a cesarean delivery : CPT code 01967 with modifier 23 and add on CPT code 01968
• For labor ending in an urgent or emergency cesarean delivery: CPT code 01967 with add-on code 01968 and 99140
I Found this link which suggests that code 01967 is for 4 hours or less and if more to add modifier 23. http://www.anesthesiabilling.org/2016/06/anesthesia-during-delivery-cpt-codes.html
This makes me think that these should be reimbursed with a flat rate rather than based on minutes like typical anesthesia.
Scenarios:
• For labor less than 4 hours ending in vaginal delivery : CPT code 01967
• For labor less than 4 hours ending in a cesarean delivery: CPT code 01967 and 01968
• For labor ending in an urgent or emergency cesarean delivery, CPT code 99140 may be billed with CPT code 01967 and 01968
• For labor 4 hours or more ending in a vaginal delivery: CPT code 01967 with modifier 23
• For labor 4 hours or more ending in a cesarean delivery : CPT code 01967 with modifier 23 and add on CPT code 01968
• For labor ending in an urgent or emergency cesarean delivery: CPT code 01967 with add-on code 01968 and 99140