Procedure Code Utilization for Vascular Access Device Placement in the Inpatient Setting: A Retrospective Analysis

Vascular access (VA) is essential to inpatient care, and the documentation/coding practices for vascular access device (VAD) placement procedures remain unexplored. Accurate documentation may present benefits for patients, providers, and researchers. A retrospective analysis was performed in adult inpatients (2015 to 2020) using Cerner Real World Data™ to evaluate the utilization of CPT codes for VAD placement/replacement procedures. A total of 14,253,584 patient encounters were analyzed, 0.111 percent (n=15,833) of which received at least one VAD procedure code. Non-tunneled CVC procedures had the highest code rate (0.067 percent), while PIV/midline procedures were the least likely to be coded (0.004 percent). The annual proportion of code utilization increased from 10.9 percent in 2015 to 19.7 percent in 2020 (p<0.0001). Despite widespread use of VADs in the inpatient setting, the procedure coding rate was found to be remarkably low. Appropriate coding/documentation practices may ensure proper care by capturing VA-related patient history, and improve research quality and resource/staff allocation.