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Cardiology Coding Alert

Reader Questions:

Learn Viable Codes for Viability Studies

Published on Thu Jan 27, 2005

Question: What codes should I use for "viability studies"?

Alabama Subscriber

Answer: You're most likely talking about positron emission tomography (PET) imaging. If this is the case, you should choose from the following applicable codes, depending on the documentation:

Metabolic evaluation (as initial evaluation and for all non-Medicare patient studies) - 78459 (Myocardial imaging, positron emission tomography [PET], metabolic evaluation)

Metabolic evaluation (following an inconclusive SPECT study) - G0230 (PET imaging; metabolic assessment for myocardial viability following inconclusive SPECT study).

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