Report CPT 77321 Once Per Course
You should report 77321 once per course of treatment. In addition, if the radiation oncologist performs a monitor unit calculation to treat the patient, he or she should also report CPT 77300 (Basic radiation dosimetry calculation, central axis depth dose calculation, TDF, NSD, gap calculation, off axis factor, tissue inhomogeneity factors, calculation of non-ionizing radiation surface and depth dose, as required during course of treatment, only when prescribed by the teaching physician) once per each electron portal treated. If you perform a calculation only, you should simply report 77300 and not 77321.
Although some practices report 77321 for every patient who receives electrons, you should note that some payers will not reimburse for this special service when the treatment consists of "routine" electron fields used for ribs or simple skin lesions, electron boosts for breast cancer or the treatment of lymph nodes.
According to First Coast Service Options' (a Florida carrier) local medical review policy (LMRP), special teletherapy port plans are medically necessary "only when a plan for a special beam consideration is required for the treatment of a neoplasm, such as the use of electrons or heavy particles."
Use Caution When Reporting Isodose Plans
Depending on your carrier's guidelines, you may be able to report 77321 on the same date as an isodose plan (77305-77315), although there are payers that will deny 77321 when reported with these codes, says Carolyn M. Davis, CMA, CPC, CCP, CCS-P, CPHT, RMC, billing supervisor at Oncology Hematology West P.C. Carriers' policies not only differ widely they can also contradict themselves.
The LMRP for Iowa's Part B carrier (Noridian Medicare) states, "The National Correct Coding Initiative bundles 77305, 77310 and 77315 into 77321 and so it will not allow payment for a combination of these codes unless 77321 is for a different volume of interest other than one or the other codes." But the same LMRP also states, "If special teletherapy port plan is used, CPT codes 77305, 77310 and 77315 are not to be billed."
Append -59 to Report Isodose Plan
Because of the confusion surrounding this issue, you should submit a copy of your documentation with any claims that include both 77321 and one of the isodose planning codes (77305-77315). In addition, you should append modifier -59 (Distinct procedural service) to the isodose plan code (77305, 77310 or 77315) and indicate the separate volumes of interest addressed by the two services to convey to the carrier that this was a separately identifiable service.
This way, anyone who reads the compliance manual will know exactly where to find documentation related to the special teletherapy. Practices must maintain documentation in the patient's medical record that demonstrates the need and reasonableness for the use of the special beam.
77331 Measures Radiation Amount
Churchill reminds practices that all special dosimetry must be ordered by the oncologist, performed and documented, and reviewed by the radiation oncologist. Otherwise, the practice could risk losing reimbursement.
"I have audited practices, and after reading their documentation I have no idea what they do because they use the exact same notes for each patient," Churchill says. Instead, she suggests using dedicated forms for each procedure that provide blanks in which the physician can describe information specific to the patient. "This makes the information objective rather than subjective, and gives the practice the same information for all patients, allowing better data collection for performance measurements."
Report 77470 for Special Procedure
According to the Winter 1991 CPT Assistant, "This code will generally be used whenever any of the special procedures of radiation therapy are performed. It is used to report the extra planning and effort that go into the performance of the special procedure itself. This code may be reported in addition to conventional treatment planning, which is usually complex (77263)."
Empire Medicare (a Part B carrier for New York and New Jersey) advises that you should report this code only once per treatment course.
You should always document the amount of extra time that the physician spends and the specific type of special treatment procedure that he performs.
For example, the physician's clinical treatment note may state, "Extra planning time and effort were spent developing this patient's treatment plan because it will be necessary to coordinate with the medical oncologist and ensure that the timing of the radiation fractions coordinates with the chemotherapy cycles for maximum tumor destruction."