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Cardiology coding involves a lot of difficult-to-sail-past challenges. For instance, if you have been using coronary thrombectomy code +92973 to report a variety of methods, you need to take note of. Thrombectomy by aspiration catheter is included in the intervention. +92973 For years, many resources have based their coding recommendations on the plain face of the definition of +92973. If you read the descriptor, you will find that it does not specify anything apart from 'Percutaneous transluminal coronary thrombectomy. As a consequence, a common recommendation has been that you use +92973 for a number of methods used to remove thrombus, including both fragmentation and aspiration catheters. Cardiology information: A number of firms sought clarification from the AMA about the right way to go about coding for +92973. Recently the firms have reported individually that the AMA's response has been to aid the information in the ACC/AMA publication: +92973 is not proper for thrombectomy by aspiration catheter. The reported AMA responses also indicate that non-mechanical coronary thrombectomy is included in any other intervention performed. As per that interpretation, "thrombectomies performed with aspiration devices such as Pronto and Fetch are included in the intervention and not separately reportable. There are confusions still. Many coders say they want to see clearer guidance for +92973 in the CPT® manual as well as published guidance from CMS to settle the issue as it could involve changing practice policy on these services. According to some industry experts, until CMS issues guidance, practices should code the service constantly across the board. To put it in other words, the recommendation is that in the absence of written guidance, you should not code in a different way for different payers. Tips to boost +92973 accuracy When your documentation does support reporting +92973, don't report it as a stand-alone code. It's an add-on code and must accompany either 92980 or 92982. For more on this and for other cardiology news, sign up for a good coding resource like TCI. Such a site offers cardiology books among a host of coding products to help you maneuver every cardiology coding challenge with ease!
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