Cardiology Question for the Week of December 18, 2017

Question:

I have a patient who received an implantable cardioverter-defibrillator (ICD) dual-chamber device from company A. During the defibrillation threshold testing (DFT) phase, the device would not convert the patient from ventricular fibrillation, and rescue shocks were performed. The patient returned the following day and a new ICD generator from company B was inserted. This device has a higher joule output that will allow the patient to be converted from the arrhythmia.

Can I assign the following CPT^® code for an ICD generator change?

Answer:

Code 33263 would be the correct code when the existing dual-chamber ICD generator was removed on a separate day from the initial insertion date and inserted and attached to the existing right atrium (RA) and right ventricle (RV) leads.

For professional fee billing, assign the following modifier since this is within the global period (90 days):

For hospital billing, the modifier -78 would not be needed as this is construed as a separate date of service and the global period does not apply.

CPT^® is a registered trademark of the American Medical Association.