| If your payer denies 77003 when you bill it with | | | | If your provider performed the destruction |
| 64640, stating that the codes are mutually | | | | procedure in an ambulatory surgery center or |
| exclusive, can you use 77002 instead for the | | | | hospital outpatient department, append modifier |
| guidance (C-arm imaging) of the needle? | | | | 26 (professional component) to report your |
| Yes you can use 77002 (Fluoroscopic guidance for | | | | provider’s professional component of the |
| needle placement [e.g., biopsy, aspiration, injection, | | | | fluoro-scopic needle guidance. You also need to |
| localization device]). This often is the complaint | | | | check with your local payer about specific |
| CPT code to report in conjunction with 64640 | | | | guidelines for these procedures. The most recent |
| (desctruction by neurolytic agent; other peripheral | | | | CCI edits do not bundle 77002 and 64640 as a |
| nerve or branch). | | | | comprehensive/component pair or as mutually |
| The reason is: Code 77002 describes fluoroscopic | | | | exclusive. But you need to keep a check on |
| guidance during pain management injection | | | | whether your local payer has different bundling |
| procedures when your physician needs guidance | | | | policies. |
| for needle placement in areas other than the | | | | If you want to know more on this and get the |
| spine. If you submit 64640, it signals the payer | | | | complete list of CPT codes, there are various |
| that you’re not reporting a spinal injection. | | | | one-stop medical coding websites to get you |
| Code 77003 is for fluoroscopic guidance of the | | | | there. Some websites also offer free trial, which |
| procedures included in the descriptor. The injection | | | | you can choose to go for before registering |
| represented by 64640 falls outside those | | | | yourself for one. So get going! |
| parameters. | | | | |