October 18, 2018
Question:
Can you bill for treatment of vasospasm (61650) when also treating the same vascular territory you are doing an aneurysm coiling?
Answer:
It depends on why the vasospasm occurred and the length of time the medication was delivered. If the vasospasm was an intraoperative complication and a bolus of medication was delivered, then it is included in the aneurysm coiling code (61624) and not separately reported with 61650. If, however, the vasospasm was due to a separate disease process (e.g., subarachnoid hemorrhage) and the delivery of medication occurred in a time period of 10 minutes or greater, then 61650 may be separately reported. Be sure the documentation supports both services.
*This response is based on the best information available as of 10/18/18.
