CPT 00100: Anesthesia for Salivary Gland Procedures, Including Biopsy
CPT code 00100 represents anesthesia services delivered for procedures on the salivary glands, including biopsies. Nationally, this code captures anesthesia care provided during diagnostic and surgical interventions on the parotid, submandibular, and sublingual glands and is used by anesthesiologists, certified registered nurse anesthetists, and anesthesiology assistants. It is relevant to hospitals and ambulatory surgical centers where head and neck procedures are performed. Key payers included in the analysis are Aetna, Blue Cross Blue Shield, Cigna Health, United Healthcare, and Medicare. Readers will find a concise overview of clinical context, common associated diagnoses such as salivary gland disease and sialolithiasis, typical sites of service, and mappings to related surgical procedure codes for salivary gland excision. The publication also outlines common modifiers used with anesthesia billing and the professional taxonomies that commonly bill for this service. This resource is intended to help payers, hospital billing teams, and clinical administrators understand the clinical role of CPT code 00100, typical coding relationships to related surgical procedures, and the payer landscape relevant to national reimbursement and claims processing practices. Data not available in the input will be noted where applicable.
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Billing Code Overview
CPT code 00100 describes anesthesia services provided for procedures on the salivary glands, including biopsy. This service represents the administration and management of anesthesia care by an anesthesia provider for patients undergoing diagnostic or surgical interventions involving the parotid, submandibular, or sublingual glands.
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Service type: General anesthesia services for salivary gland procedures
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Typical site of service: Hospital operating room or ambulatory surgical center
National Reimbursement Benchmarks
Commercial national rates for CPT 00100 cluster around BUCA’s average commercial rate of $88.10, which serves as a mid-market reference point. Blue Cross Blue Shield shows a relatively tight interquartile spread (P75–P25 = $94.20 − $51.80 = $42.40), and UnitedHealth Group is similarly compressed (P75–P25 = $80.90 − $52.00 = $28.90), indicating less dispersion around their medians. Cigna and BUCA exhibit wider spreads (Cigna: $125.00 − $68.40 = $56.60; BUCA: $114.70 − $54.30 = $60.40), while Aetna has the largest absolute spread (Aetna: $199.60 − $50.00 = $149.60), reflecting significant variability in upper-tier contractual rates.
Payer-specific central tendencies vary: Aetna’s mean of $148.50 and maximum of $504.60 contrast with UnitedHealth Group’s mean of $67.40 and max of $122.70, framing a broad market ceiling. Cigna (mean $96.50) and BCBS (mean $72.20) sit between those extremes, with BUCA’s mean ($88.10) near the center of the commercial distribution. These characteristics highlight where rate concentration and outliers are most pronounced across commercial payers.