All codes
E013C
E013C – Anaesthetic management for emergency relief of acute upper airway obstruction
OHIP Surgical Assists Code — GENERAL PREAMBLE · Schedule of Benefits
When anaesthetic management is required for the emergency relief of acute upper airway (above the carina) obstruction (excluding choanal atresia), the listed basic units for the primary surgical procedure are replaced with 10 basic units. This code represents that replacement.
When to Use
- Use E013C when providing anaesthetic management for an emergent airway obstruction, such as epiglottitis or foreign body aspiration, where the surgical procedure's assigned basic units are lower than 10.
- Apply this code when the clinical urgency of the airway obstruction necessitates immediate intervention, replacing the standard procedure-based basic units with a flat 10 units.
Common Pitfalls
- Do not bill E013C in conjunction with the standard surgical procedure's anaesthesia basic units, as E013C is intended to replace them entirely.
- Avoid using E013C for choanal atresia cases, as these are explicitly excluded by the General Preamble and will result in claim rejection.
- Failing to link the appropriate Special Visit Premium (C998C, C985C, or C999C) when the case requires an emergency call-in to the hospital during off-hours.
Billing Tips
- Ensure the total anaesthesia fee is calculated by adding the 10 units from E013C to the total time units, then multiplying by the current anaesthesiologist unit fee.
- Verify that no procedural C-suffix codes are submitted for the same anaesthetic event when E013C is utilized to prevent duplicate billing errors.
Ready to bill this code?
SnapBill makes OHIP billing simple — auto-filled codes, validation, and batch submission.