Pulmonology Coding Alert

Question: My doctor has always performed six-minute walk tests in the hospital and reported 94620-26. Now he's wondering if he can do them in the office and if so, would we report 94620 and get paid?


South Dakota Subscriber


Answer: You should report six-minute walk tests in the same manner regardless of location, as long as your physician appropriately documents the measurements required for reporting the service.

When your pulmonary function technologist performs the six-minute walk test in a private office setting (POS 11) in which the physician owns the equipment and provides the interpretation and report, report the global code: 94620 (Pulmonary stress testing; simple [eg, prolonged exercise test for bronchospasm with pre- and post-spirometry).

Caution: If the documentation doesn't support reporting 94620 and the technologist measured multiple oxygen saturations, you should use 94761 (Noninvasive ear or pulse oximetry for oxygen saturation; multiple determinations [eg, during exercise]). You can only use this code only if your physician provided no other billable service on the same day.