Oncology & Hematology Coding Alert

Question: I-m coding a physics consultation for a pregnant patient undergoing radiation. Does this circumstance qualify for 77370?

Mississippi Subscriber

Answer: Assuming the documentation supports that the physician ordered a special physics service because the patient's case requires a physicist's expertise to understand and explain a particular dosimetry, treatment plan or similar problem, this should qualify for 77370 (Special medical radiation physics consultation).

Your documentation should include a direct request for the consult from the oncologist and a written report from the physicist to the oncologist, addressing the particular patient's situation, such as computing the radiation dose to the fetus. The oncologist should also document reviewing the chart and using it to design the treatment plan.

-- The answers for You Be the Coder and Reader Questions were reviewed by Cindy C. Parman, CPC, CPC-H, RCC, co-owner of Coding Strategies Inc. in Powder Springs, Ga., and past-president of the American Academy of Professional Coders National Advisory Board.