Question: I got a charge sheet with 77331 circled. The physician ordered special monitoring for a patient with a very small treatment area. Would coding 77331 in this instance be correct? Virginia Subscriber Answer: The described situation may meet the requirements for 77331 (Special dosimetry [e.g., TLD,microdosimetry] [specify], only when prescribed by the treating physician). According to an American Society for Therapeutic Radiology and Oncology (ASTRO) -Coding FAQ,- -Use should be for special situations such as dose at abutting fields, unusually small fields, verifying dose under bolus, etc.- As the ASTRO FAQ stresses, most patients won't require special dosimetry, which measures radiation dose at a given point with specialized monitoring equipment (
www.astro.org/HealthPolicy/RadiationOncologyCoding/CodingFAQ/Dosimetry/index.asp). You should never use 77331 for routine quality assurance monitoring. This means you should not report this code for room surveys, patient surveys, or routine plan verification. But if the radiation oncologist orders special radiation measuring and [...]
