Compliance Question of the Week

Cardiology

For the Week of November 14, 2016

If the doctor places a drug-eluting stent (DES) in the left anterior descending (LAD) artery and also does an angioplasty only of a diagonal artery, would the appropriate coding for a Medicare patient be C9600 and 92920 or C9600 and 92921?

If a DES is placed in the LAD, and separate angioplasty of a diagonal is performed, you would report the codes listed below. The angioplasty is in an additional branch of the LAD.

C9600

Percutaneous transcatheter placement of drug eluting intracoronary stent(s), with coronary angioplasty when performed; single major coronary artery or branch

92921

Percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty; each additional branch of a major coronary artery (List separately in addition to code for primary procedure)