Summary & Overview

CPT 01212: Anesthesia for Open Hip Disarticulation

Headline: CPT code 01212: Anesthesia for Open Hip Disarticulation — Clinical and Payer Context

Lead: CPT code 01212 designates anesthesia services provided for an open disarticulation procedure of the hip joint, a high-acuity orthopedic operation that typically occurs in the operating room and often requires specialized anesthetic management. Nationally, accurate reporting of this code supports clinical documentation, resource allocation, and proper claims adjudication for complex lower-extremity surgeries.

CPT code 01212 denotes anesthesia for a major operative procedure—hip disarticulation—where perioperative considerations include significant hemodynamic and pain-control management. This code is relevant to hospital-based anesthesiology teams, certified registered nurse anesthetists, and anesthesiology assistants involved in intraoperative care.

Payers covered in this analysis include Aetna, Blue Cross Blue Shield, Cigna Health, UnitedHealthcare, and Medicare. Readers will find a concise overview of the code’s clinical context, comparisons to closely related hip anesthesia codes, and the typical sites of service. The publication outlines payer coverage considerations and common billing modifiers used with complex orthopedic anesthesia, and it highlights related anesthesia codes for hip procedures to aid coding accuracy. The content is intended to support coding professionals, clinical billing staff, and policy analysts seeking a national-level summary of CPT code 01212 and its role in capturing anesthesia services for hip disarticulation.

AetnaBlue Cross Blue ShieldCigna HealthUnitedHealthcareMedicareCPT 01212AnesthesiaHip DisarticulationOrthopedic SurgeryOperating RoomAnesthesiologySurgical AnesthesiaProcedure Coding

Billing Code Overview

CPT code 01212 represents anesthesia services for an open disarticulation procedure of the hip joint. The service type is anesthesia for major orthopedic surgery, and the typical site of service is an inpatient or operating room setting where open hip disarticulation procedures are performed.

Clinical & Coding Specifications

Clinical Context

A 68-year-old patient with advanced degenerative joint disease of the hip presents with severe pain, decreased mobility, and failure of conservative measures. The orthopedic surgeon determines the hip joint is nonviable and schedules an open hip disarticulation (amputation through the hip joint) under general anesthesia. The preoperative evaluation is completed by the anesthesia team, including medical history, airway assessment, review of prior joint replacements (noted artificial knee joints Z96.651/Z96.652), medication reconciliation, and optimization of cardiopulmonary status. Typical perioperative workflow includes induction of anesthesia in the operating room, invasive monitoring as indicated, intraoperative management of hemodynamics and analgesia, communication with the surgical team regarding blood loss and positioning, postoperative transfer to PACU or ICU depending on stability, and documentation of anesthesia start/stop times and techniques. This procedure typically occurs in an inpatient hospital operating room for a patient requiring major limb amputation and comprehensive perioperative support.

Coding Specifications

Modifier and taxonomy tables follow.

Modifier	Description	When to Use
`22`	Increased procedural services	Use when anesthesia required substantially greater effort or complexity than usual (document justification).
`23`	Unusual anesthesia	Use when general anesthesia is administratively necessary for a procedure that normally may be performed without general anesthesia due to unusual circumstances.
`50`	Bilateral procedure	Use if bilateral procedures are performed during the same anesthetic (rare for hip disarticulation).
`52`	Reduced services	Use when the anesthesia service is partially reduced or not completed as planned.
`53`	Discontinued procedure	Use when the procedure is started but then terminated for clinical reasons after anesthesia induction.
`54`	Surgical care only	Use when the anesthesiologist provides only intraoperative services and not pre/postoperative care (facility billing scenarios).
`55`	Postoperative management only	Use when the anesthesiologist provides only postoperative management.
`56`	Preoperative management only	Use when only preoperative evaluation is provided by the anesthesiologist.
`62`	Two surgeons	Use when two surgeons work together as primary surgeons; relevant to operative complexity and documentation.
`78`	Unplanned return to the operating room following initial procedure	Use when the patient returns to the OR during the global period for a related procedure requiring repeat anesthesia.
`AA`	Anesthesia services performed personally by anesthesiologist	Use to identify services personally performed by the physician anesthesiologist.
`AD`	Medical supervision by anesthesiologist; more than four concurrent anesthesia procedures	Use when supervising multiple concurrent anesthesia providers beyond four.
`AS`	Physician assistant, nurse practitioner, or clinical nurse specialist services for anesthesia	Use when an advanced practice clinician performs the anesthesia under supervision in systems that accept `AS`.
`QK`	Medical direction of two, three, or four concurrent anesthesia procedures involving qualified individuals	Use when the physician medically directs multiple concurrent CRNAs/assistants (specific reporting contexts).
`QS`	Monitored anesthesia care (MAC) service	Use when MAC is provided and reportable per payer policies.

Taxonomy Code	Specialty	Notes
`207L00000X`	Anesthesiology	Physician anesthesiologists provide comprehensive perioperative anesthesia care.
`367500000X`	Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetist	CRNAs frequently provide and bill anesthesia services under applicable supervision models.
`207RA0401X`	Anesthesiology Assistant	Anesthesiology assistants function under anesthesiologist supervision and participate in perioperative management.

Related Diagnoses

ICD-10 Code	Description	Clinical Relevance
`M17.10`	Unilateral primary osteoarthritis, unspecified knee	Indicates degenerative joint disease that may coexist in the knee; pertinent to preoperative assessment and pain history.
`M17.11`	Unilateral primary osteoarthritis, right knee	Right knee osteoarthritis noted in history; relevant for functional status and rehabilitation planning after hip disarticulation.
`M17.12`	Unilateral primary osteoarthritis, left knee	Left knee osteoarthritis noted in history; relevant for functional status and rehabilitation planning after hip disarticulation.
`Z96.651`	Presence of right artificial knee joint	Documentation of prior right knee arthroplasty; important for positioning, prosthesis precautions, and perioperative risk assessment.
`Z96.652`	Presence of left artificial knee joint	Documentation of prior left knee arthroplasty; important for positioning, prosthesis precautions, and perioperative risk assessment.

Related CPT Codes

CPT Code	Description	Relationship to This Procedure
`01210`	Anesthesia for open procedures involving hip joint; not otherwise specified	Alternative anesthesia code for open hip procedures when the specific procedure type does not match other listed codes.
`01214`	Anesthesia for open procedures involving hip joint; total hip arthroplasty	Related code for primary total hip arthroplasty; used when the procedure is a total hip replacement rather than disarticulation.
`01215`	Anesthesia for open procedures involving hip joint; revision of total hip arthroplasty	Related code for anesthesia during revision hip arthroplasty; used when the operation involves prosthesis revision rather than disarticulation.