Question: What documentation should the oncologist provide for tumor imaging codes 78811-78816? For 78811-78813, you should also see these additional tasks: Codes 78814-78816 require a little more:
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Answer: You need to check off a number of factors before reporting PET or PET/CT--physician review alone isn't enough.
For 78811-78816 (Tumor imaging, positron emission tomography [PET] ...), your report should include documentation of the following:
- radiopharmaceutical injected
- physician interpretation of the images and comparison to prior imaging studies
- abnormality quantification through calculation of standardized uptake value when clinically indicated.
- PET data acquisition and reconstruction performed in multiple planes
- physician review of the study, determining adequacy and whether he needs additional acquisitions.
- CT data acquisition and PET data reconstruction in multiple planes
- physician overlay of PET and CT images-- at a computer workstation--to create images for anatomic correlation
- physician review of three sets of images--PET scans; CT anatomical localization data; and the combined, superimposed images.