Radiology Coding Tips

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Procedure

The term radiology can indicate any number of methods used by a physician to do diagnostic testing. Therefore, reading the entire description will prove extremely useful to find the appropriate codes. For example, if a patient had an angiography, read the entire procedure to know if it is pertaining to the patient’s abdomen, arm, or chest. If it is the chest, do not use the first code you see. Read the entire description of the code. The first code under angiography, chest is “71275,” which describes the procedure as “computed tomographic angiography, chest (noncoronary), with contrast material(s), including noncontrast images, if performed, and image postprocessing”. The other code under angiography, chest is “71555,” which describes the procedures as, “Magnetic resonance angiography, chest (excluding myocardium), with or without contrast materials(s)” (“Current procedural Terminology;” American Medical Association; Fourth Edition).

Current Procedural Terminology (CPT) manual.

Included in the radiology section of the CPT manual, are detailed guidelines about professional, technical and global components of a procedure. For example, if a patient goes to a clinic to have a x-ray, which included their own radiologist, technician, x-ray machines, and the results are read and interpreted at that same clinic, that would code under global. But if the x-rays were taken to another facility be read and interpreted, only the professional components would be reported for physician services.

Another useful tip: understand that sometimes a code from another section must be used to fully describe the procedure. This is called, component or combination coding. For example, when the radiologist injects, or places material necessary to perform a procedure, a CPT code from the surgery section must be used.

Save time and be resourceful by marking where to look for codes in the subsections of the CPT manual. A few of those subsections are as follows: diagnostic imaging, Mammography, Radiation Oncology and Nuclear medicine.

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