Physician and I were having a discussion over CPT 45378 and its definition.
His patient had a decompression tube inserted. I verified that this was not via stoma. This was a true endo-insertion.
Doesnt the verbiage of 45378 already account for the placement of the tube because of its purpose of decompression?
The only other CPT code I found is stoma-related and definitely doesnt qualify to be billed based on the true procedure done....
You should not report the colonoscopy and tube placement independently. On the claim, report only 45378 (Colonoscopy, flexible, proximal to splenic flexure; diagnostic, with or without collection of specimen[s] by brushing or washing, with or without colon decompression [separate procedure]) for the procedure. According to CPT's definition, 45378 is the code to report when the gastro performs a diagnostic colonoscopy "with or without decompression." So you wouldn’t need a separate code when you perform a colonoscopy and decompression.
I know that part because I acknowledged that in my post.... The part that is not indicated in the verbiage of 45378, is the tube....
This is a grey area because "Tube" is not in the description of the code.
