Ventilation management billed on the same day as an anesthesia procedure is part of the global anesthesia service for the first 24 hours after anesthesia induction and therefore it is not billable.
If procedure code 94656 is reported on the same day, on the same patient, by the same provider as an anesthesia procedure, the ventilation management service will be denied.
Subsequent ventilation management (94657) billed on the same day as an evaluation and management service is considered part of the evaluation and management service and is not payable separately even if the evaluation and management service is billed with modifier 25. If the patient develops unusual postoperative respiratory problems that require reintubation and/or ventilation management, the physician should report the service with critical care or the appropriate evaluation and management code(s).
