Anesthesia

Daily Management and Pain Management

Table of Contents

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Daily Management of Continuous Pain Control Techniques

Daily hospital management of continuous epidural or subarachnoid drug administration is reported using CPT code 01996 (one unit of service daily). This code may be reported on the first and subsequent postoperative days as medically necessary.

When continuous infusion codes 64416, 64446, 64448 or 64449 are reported on the day of surgery, no additional reporting of daily management is permitted on the day of catheter placement. However, subsequent to the day of placement, catheter and infusion management should be reported using the appropriate visit code. CPT code 01996 should not be reported in conjunction with CPT codes 64416, 64446, 64448 or 64449.

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Pain Management Consultations

Evaluation and management services for postoperative pain control on the day of surgery are considered part of the usual anesthetic services and are not separately reportable. When medically necessary and requested by the attending physician, hospital visits or consultative services are reportable by the anesthesiologist during the postoperative period. However, normal postoperative pain management, including management of intravenous patient-controlled analgesia, is considered part of the surgical global package and should not be separately reported.

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Postoperative Pain Control Procedures

When provided principally for postoperative pain control, peripheral nerve injections and neuraxial (spinal, epidural) injections can be separately reported on the day of surgery using the appropriate CPT procedure with modifier 59 or XE or XP or, XS or, XU (Distinct Procedural Service) and one unit of service. For more information on the distinct procedural services modifiers refer to MLN® Fact Sheet: Proper Use of Modifiers 59, XE, XP, SX, and XU.

Reviewed 10/25/2024