Novadaq Technologies (Toronto), a developer of real-time imaging systems and image-guided therapies for the operating room, reported that the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Fiscal 2008 Rules include a new ICD-9-CM procedure code for Intra-operative Fluorescence Vascular Angiography, which can be performed using SPY Imaging Systems.

The new ICD-9-CM procedure code, effective Oct. 1, will be used by hospitals to bill for costs associated with SPY Intra-operative Imaging procedures performed by cardiac surgeons in the operating room.

Designation of a code in the international classification system could represent an important milestone in establishing intra-operative angiography as a standard of care, the company said.

“This code is tremendously important in supporting our ability to measure the impact of intra-operative imaging on the quality of care for coronary artery bypass patients at the health policy level,” said T. Bruce Ferguson, MD, professor and associage chief of the Division of Computed Tomorgraphy and Vascular Surgery, Division of Clinical Effectiveness, Department of Surgery, Brody School of Medicine at East Carolina University (Greenville, North Carolina).