Gastroenterology Coding Alert

Question: What code should I use for Sitz marker study? And what is it?

Tennessee Subscriber

Answer: You can report this test simply with 74000 (Radiologic examination, abdomen; single anterior- posterior view) for the appropriate number of flat kidney, ureters, and bladder (KUB) x-rays that the provider did following the migration of the markers.
 
Assuming your physician supplied the Sitz marker capsules, you should also report 99070 (Supplies and materials [except spectacles] provided by the physician over and above those usually included with the office visit or other service rendered [list drugs, trays, supplies, or materials provided]) in addition to reporting the series of KUB x-rays

What it is: A Sitz marker test uses tiny -markers- to test how fast food is moving through the intestines. Gastroenterologists use it most often with patients who suffer from chronic constipation, for example fewer than two bowel movements per week.

The doctor will give the patient a small capsule to swallow. This capsule contains small markers that will show up on x-rays and let the doctor track its progress through the patient's intestines. After several days the patient will return to the doctor's office or hospital, and she will take x-rays of the patient's abdomen to see if any of the markers are left in the colon or whether they have all been expelled from the body. The more markers there are  in the body, the slower the patient's colon motility.