CPT 01916: Anesthesia for Diagnostic Arteriography or Venography
CPT code 01916 represents anesthesia services delivered during diagnostic arteriography or venography procedures. This code is used nationally to bill for anesthetic management when patients undergo vascular imaging of arteries or veins, supporting accurate diagnosis of vascular disease. Anesthesia involvement can affect procedure scheduling, resource allocation, and billing complexity for hospitals and imaging centers.
Key payers in the analysis include Aetna, Blue Cross Blue Shield, Cigna Health, UnitedHealthcare, and Medicare. Readers will find a concise overview of clinical context for arteriography and venography anesthesia, common billing relationships with major payers, and connections to related anesthesia codes used for vascular imaging procedures. The publication outlines typical sites of service and service type, notes typical associated modifiers, and points to related CPT anesthesia codes for comparable vascular imaging services.
This material is intended for national audiences including hospital billing staff, anesthesiology departments, and revenue cycle professionals seeking a clear reference for CPT code 01916. It provides context for coding decisions, payer interactions, and operational planning around diagnostic vascular imaging requiring anesthesia.
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Billing Code Overview
CPT code 01916 describes anesthesia services provided for diagnostic arteriography or venography. The service type is anesthesia for vascular imaging, performed to support diagnostic X‑ray procedures that visualize arteries or veins. The typical site of service is an imaging suite or hospital radiology/interventional radiology department, where diagnostic arteriography or venography procedures are performed.
National Reimbursement Benchmarks
Commercial reimbursement for CPT 01916 centers around an average commercial benchmark (BUCA) of $84.20. Among national carriers, Aetna and Cigna sit above BUCA on mean rates ($145.30 and $96.50 respectively), while Blue Cross Blue Shield averages lower at $65.40 and UnitedHealth Group at $67.40. This positions BUCA near the midpoint of the national payer mix and highlights notable variation between higher-paying carriers and those clustered below the average.
Dispersion (P75 minus P25) highlights where rates are most and least concentrated: Aetna’s interquartile spread is $118.00, Cigna’s is $58.00, Blue Cross Blue Shield’s is $36.00, UnitedHealth Group’s is $28.90, and BUCA’s is $51.00. Aetna therefore shows the widest dispersion and the greatest variability, while UnitedHealth Group is the tightest, indicating more consistent commercial contract rates around its central tendency.