Summary & Overview
CPT 33940: Cardiectomy for Heart Transplant
CPT code 33940 represents a cardiectomy performed for heart transplantation, involving surgical removal of the donor heart and placement in cold preservation solution prior to transplant. The code describes a critical step in organ procurement and is central to billing for donor organ retrieval in heart transplant programs. Nationally, accurate coding for donor cardiectomy affects hospital surgical billing workflows, transplant program accounting, and reporting tied to organ procurement organizations.
Key payers addressed in this analysis include Aetna, Blue Cross Blue Shield, Cigna Health, UnitedHealthcare, and Medicare. Readers will find a concise overview of clinical context for the procedure, common billing modifiers, typical site-of-service considerations, and how the code interacts with transplant services. The publication also summarizes benchmarking elements and policy considerations relevant to payers nationally, and highlights which data elements are available or not in the provided input.
This summary equips billing managers, transplant program administrators, and policy analysts with the essential facts about CPT code 33940, its clinical role in heart transplant procurement, and the payer landscape relevant to coverage and billing practices.
Billing Code Overview
CPT code 33940 describes a cardiectomy for transplant, in which the provider surgically removes the donor heart and places it in a cold preservation solution for later transplantation. This procedure is performed as part of the organ procurement process for heart transplant.
-
Service type: Surgical removal of the heart for transplant (organ procurement)
-
Typical site of service: Operating room or surgical suite during organ procurement procedures
Data not available in the input.
Clinical & Coding Specifications
Clinical Context
A 45-year-old male with end-stage ischemic cardiomyopathy is selected for orthotopic heart transplantation after multidisciplinary evaluation. The donor heart procurement team travels to the donor hospital. In the operating room, the cardiothoracic surgeon performs a cardiectomy, surgically removing the donor heart (33940) and places it into a cold preservation solution for transport to the transplant center. Typical workflow includes donor evaluation and consent, sterile procurement in the donor OR, donor heart explantation with inspection and preservation, documentation of ischemic time, and handoff to the transport team. Typical site of service is an operating room in an acute care hospital, frequently at a donor hospital or transplant center. The patient scenarios include brain-dead organ donors or circulatory death donors where a heart is explanted for later orthotopic transplantation.
Coding Specifications
| Modifier | Description | When to Use |
|---|---|---|
00 | Not a real CMS modifier (placeholder) | Data not applicable; do not use for billing |
22 | Increased procedural services |