We have just started to use ultrasound and am wondering if anyone knows the code to bill this under? We will use it for PICCs as well as peripherals. Thanks!
So can we or can we not bill for use of ultrasound at the bedside for PICC line placements? I understood that you needed to be a mid-level NP, PA or some other echelon above the RN designation if you were going to bill for ultrasound use.
I have not been billing but perhaps I should............
We (IV Therapy RN's) bill for U/S guided PICC placement. It's a very good idea; you'll get more revenue and a better looking budget for your department. In order to do so, we had to have specific language on our PICC Insertion Record (something like U/S guided DL PICC placed .....image captured and placed in pt.'s medical record....if you want our specific wording let me know. I'm at home now and don't have access to it). I don't know if your state practice laws would require that billing only be done by NP or PA or MD, but we are allowed.
Mari Cordes, BS RNIII VA-BC
Vascular Access Department
University of Vermont Medical Center
Billing directly to Medicare or Medicaid requires that you be an NP or PA, however your facility can bill for the service. This means that the revenue goes to your employer, not to you. The issue is that Medicare and Medicaid are capitated fee structures, meaning that the facility will receive a flat fee based on the diagnosis of the patient, not the number or type of procedures being performed. You do need to create an internal process that is often called billing, although it does not increase the amount of money that is paid to the facility. It does track the portion of the patient's care provided by your dept so that you can recoup a portion of that flat fee for your budgeting processes. Billing for ultrasound use does require documentation by capturing a picture of the needle in the vein, so this is possible with many of the units now on the market. Lynn
The most commonly referenced code for US guided PICC placement is 76937 - ultrasound guidance for vascular access. 76942 is ultraound guidance for needle placement, i.e. biopsy. Check with your billing department before doing anything, though.
76942 -26 is the code I use for US guided PICC placement
check with your diagnostic ultrasound folks in imaging dept.
we charge under "ultrasound needle guidance/placement"
So can we or can we not bill for use of ultrasound at the bedside for PICC line placements? I understood that you needed to be a mid-level NP, PA or some other echelon above the RN designation if you were going to bill for ultrasound use.
I have not been billing but perhaps I should............
Thanks!
Alma K, CRNI
Mari Cordes, BS RNIII VA-BC
Vascular Access Department
University of Vermont Medical Center
Lynn Hadaway, M.Ed., RN, NPD-BC, CRNI
Lynn Hadaway Associates, Inc.
PO Box 10
Milner, GA 30257
Website http://www.hadawayassociates.com
Office Phone 770-358-7861