Ask Dr. Z

The 93010 is often done prior to procedures by our cardiologists. We often see it when a patient has an urgent or emergent cath performed. We see it before and after the procedure. Also on any device implants and ablations. There is an NCCI edit for these codes as well. There have been more than one discussion on if and when the 93010 can be billed separate with a -59 modifier and there have been different answers. There has been some opinion that these should be considered surveillance not diagnostic. I have not been able to find an actual policy or protocol on this subject. I was wondering if you could help with this 93010 coding issue.