Question
Is there a reimbursement code for ototoxic monitoring?
Answer
There is no ototoxic monitoring code per se. With regard to procedures, report the CPT codes corresponding to the procedures that you actually perform. Depending on the situation, your diagnosis code will probably be 389.11 (sensory hearing loss, bilateral) or 389.18 (sensorineural hearing loss, bilateral). If you are performing ultra-high-frequency audiometry, it is possible to use a - 22 modifier. But when you do that, you must submit a report justifying the extra reimbursement that you want to receive by stating what the procedure is, what equipment you use, the benefit to the patient, how long it took, your clinical assessment, and your recommendations.
Robert C. Fifer, Ph.D. is currently the Director of Audiology and Speech-Language Pathology at the Mailman Center for Child Development, Department of Pediatrics, University of Miami School of Medicine. He received his B.S. degree from the University of Nebraska at Omaha in Speech-Language Pathology with a minor in Deaf Education. His M.A. degree is from Central Michigan University in Audiology. And his Ph.D. degree is from Baylor College of Medicine in Audiology and Bioacoustics. Dr. Fifer's clinical and research interests focus on the areas of auditory evoked potentials, central auditory processing, early detection of hearing loss in children, and auditory anatomy and physiology. He is the immediate Past-President of the Florida Association of Speech-Language Pathologists and Audiologists, a member of ASHA's Health Care Economics Committee, and the ASHA representative to the American Medical Association's Health Care Professions Advisory Committee for the Relative Value Utilization Committee in addition to being ASHA's representative to the AMA's Practice Expense Advisory Committee. Additional responsibilities at the state level include serving as a consultant to the Florida Department of Health's Children's Medical Services and the audiology representative to the Genetics and Newborn Screening Advisory Council.
