Anesthesiology and Pain Medicine in the ASC

Interventional pain physicians perform a high volume of image-guided spinal and joint procedures, much of which has moved into ambulatory surgery centers. The CPT families that matter most run through the spinal and paravertebral injection range (62320-64999) and the joint injection codes around 20550-20611. For example, 64483 is a transforaminal epidural injection at a lumbar or sacral level, and 64493 is a paravertebral facet joint injection at the same level.

Coverage in an ASC depends on the CMS addenda. Codes on Addendum AA are on the ASC Covered Procedures List, meaning Medicare pays them in an ASC, while Addendum EE lists codes excluded from ASC payment. Because pain procedures often carry prior-authorization and documentation requirements that vary by payer, DataLily's procedure library tracks the CPT-specific prior-authorization and documentation requirements for these codes.