A4338 — Indwelling catheter; foley type, two-way latex with coating (teflon, silicone, silicone elastomer, or hydrophilic, etc.), each
HCPCS/CPT
Prior Authorization
No Prior Auth Required
Code is covered without prior authorization (high confidence)
Medicare Pricing
Work RVU
0.00
Facility
N/A
Non-Facility
N/A
Documentation Required
- A completed Standard Written Order (SWO) must be communicated to the supplier before claim submission; for DMEPOS base items requiring WOPD, a signed SWO/WOPD must be received before delivery.
- Proof of delivery (POD) documentation must be maintained by suppliers and made available to the Medicare contractor upon request; lack of POD may lead to denial.
- Medical record documentation must substantiate medical necessity for non-routine catheter changes, specialty/all-silicone/Coude catheters, continuous irrigation (including rate and duration), and any quantity greater than policy-specified amounts; records must be available upon request.
- For intermittent irrigation supplies billed, a copy of the order and documentation of acute catheter obstruction may be requested when irrigation supplies are billed.
Key Coverage Criteria
- Items are covered if they are in an eligible Medicare benefit category, are reasonable and necessary for diagnosis/treatment or to improve function of a malformed body member, and meet applicable Medicare statutory/regulatory requirements.
- Routine indwelling catheter maintenance: one indwelling catheter unit (e.g., A4314/A4315/A4316/A4340/A4344 variants) per month is covered.
- Non-routine indwelling catheter changes are covered when documentation substantiates medical necessity, including accidental removal, catheter malfunction, obstruction (encrustation/mucous plug/blood clot), or history of recurrent obstruction/UTI requiring scheduled changes >1/month.
- Specialty indwelling catheters (A4340) or all-silicone catheters (A4344, A4312, A4315) are covered when indwelling catheter criteria are met and medical record documents specific need (e.g., recurrent encrustation, inability to pass straight catheter, latex sensitivity).
- Three-way indwelling catheters (A4346 alone or with A4313/A4316) are covered only when continuous bladder irrigation is reasonable and necessary.
- One catheter insertion tray is covered per episode of indwelling catheter insertion; one intermittent catheter with insertion supplies is covered per episode of reasonable and necessary sterile intermittent catheterization.
2 Active Policies
L33803 — Urological Supplies
J19
L40270 — Urological Supplies
J19
Related Codes
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