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CPT 00216: Anesthesia for Intracranial Vascular Procedures
Headline: CPT code 00216 — Anesthesia for Intracranial Vascular Procedures
CPT code 00216 designates anesthesia services rendered for patients undergoing intracranial vascular procedures. This code captures specialized anesthetic management required for high-risk neurovascular interventions, reflecting the complexity and critical monitoring needs of intracranial endovascular and open vascular procedures. Nationally, accurate use of this code supports appropriate billing, clinical documentation, and alignment with resource utilization for perioperative neuroanesthesia.
Major payers included in this analysis are Aetna, Blue Cross Blue Shield, Cigna Health, UnitedHealthcare, and Medicare. The publication explains payer coverage considerations and typical reimbursement contexts for these insurers while providing clinical context for why anesthetic care for intracranial vascular procedures warrants distinct coding.
Readers will find a concise breakdown of: clinical scope and typical sites of service for 00216; common diagnostic scenarios that align with intracranial vascular interventions; related procedural codes used in cerebrovascular access and intervention; and practical benchmarks and policy-relevant notes affecting national billing practice. The content is structured to help billing managers, anesthesiology departments, and policy analysts understand coding intent, documentation priorities, and payer contexts for CPT code 00216 without state-specific guidance.
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Billing Code Overview
CPT code 00216 describes anesthesia services provided for intracranial vascular procedures. The service type is anesthesia for intracranial vascular surgery or endovascular intracranial vascular procedures. The typical site of service is an operating room or interventional radiology/endovascular suite where intracranial vascular interventions are performed.
National Reimbursement Benchmarks
Commercial commercial rates cluster around BUCA’s average commercial level of $76.3, with Cigna ($92.4 mean) and Aetna ($107.1 mean) above that mark and Blue Cross Blue Shield ($63.6 mean) and UnitedHealth Group ($67.3 mean) below. Blue Cross Blue Shield and UnitedHealth Group medians both sit at $57.6 and $64 respectively, while Cigna and Aetna show higher central tendencies; this suggests moderate variation in typical contracted levels across major national payers.
Dispersion measured by the interquartile range (P75−P25) is narrowest for Blue Cross Blue Shield at $37.5 and for UnitedHealth Group at $28.8, indicating tighter mid‑range agreements. Aetna exhibits the widest IQR at $85.0, followed by Cigna at $53.1 and BUCA at $45.6, reflecting greater variability in commercial pricing among those payers.