Standby Services

Physician standby time (CPT 99360) is a covered benefit under Health Plan Hawaii and other HMO plans in the following circumstances.

• Anesthesia standby time for PTCA (Percutaneous Transluminal Coronary Angioplasty).
• Pediatric standby time for Caesarean sections.

Claims Filing Information

When billing for standby time, use the following code:

CPT code 99360 is used to report physician standby service that is requested by another physician and involves prolonged physician attendance without direct (face-to-face) patient contact. The following criteria apply:

• Standby time may not be billed if the physician is in attendance for less than 30 minutes.
• The physician may not provide care or services to other patients during this period.
• The code should not be used to report time proctoring or supervising another physician.
• The code should not be used if the period of standby ends with the performance of a procedure subject to a global surgical package (e.g., during PTCA it is determined that coronary artery bypass is needed and anesthesia is performed for the bypass).

Notes: 99360 may be billed with either 99460 (evaluation and management of normal newborn infant) or 99465 (newborn resuscitation) as appropriate.

99360 also may be billed with 99468 (initial inpatient neonatal critical care), but only if the infant meets the criteria established by CPT for the use of 99468.

99360 may not be billed with 99464 (attendance at delivery). The codes are mutually exclusive.

Calculating Units

99360 represents a full 30 minutes of service. Less than 30 minutes of service may not be counted as a unit.

Example 1 - The physician was on standby for PTCA for 45 minutes.

99360 would be billed with a "1" in the days or units column (24G) of the CMS 1500 claim form. The additional 15 minutes cannot be billed.

Example 2 - The physician was on standby for cesarean section for an hour and a half (90 minutes). 99360 would be billed with a "3" in the days or units column (24G) of the CMS 1500 claim form.

Revision History