Radiology Coding Alert

The CPT Panel may let you report this code independently

The code for chest radiograph CAD may stand on its own come January.
 
Now you can only report +0152T (Computer-aided detection [computer algorithm analysis of digital image data for lesion detection] with further physician review for interpretation, with or without digitization of film radiographic images, chest radiograph[s]) in conjunction with chest x-ray codes 71010, 71020-71022, and 71030.
 
Reason: When the CPT Editorial Panel introduced +0152T, it assumed that you'd only code for the CAD along with an x-ray, says Michael Longacre, a consultant with Healthcare Market Strategies in Yamhill, Ore. But some practices have been performing the CAD without a chest x-ray, for example to interpret an x-ray that happened on a previous date.
 
So Miamisburg, Ohio-based Riverain Medical, which makes the chest radiograph CAD, suggested to the CPT Editorial Panel that it remove the add-on designation from +0152T. The panel considered this
suggestion at its meeting in Las Vegas on June 9-10, and a decision should be forthcoming this fall.
 
Since the purpose of a Category III code like +0152T is to collect data on how often you're performing a procedure, it's important to recognize every use of a procedure, not just some, says Longacre, who works with Riverain.
 
Medicare designated +0152T as "carrier priced," but so far at least one Medicare carrier and some supplemental Medicare payers have been reimbursing it, Longacre says. (Read more on payment for this code in the March 2006 issue of Radiology Coding Alert or
e-mail the editor at deborahd@eliresearch.com.)
 
Other proposals: At the same session, the American Society for Therapeutic Radiation Oncology presented a proposal to revise the descriptor for stereotactic radiation treatment management code 77432 (Stereotactic radiation treatment management of cerebral lesion[s] ...) to allow treatment of more areas of the head. For some reason, this code refers to "cerebral" rather than "cranial," meaning it only covers the top part of the brain.
 
Physicians have been using stereotactic radiation to treat all areas of the brain, says Santa Monica, Calif., oncologist Michael Steinberg MD, who presented the proposal on behalf of ASTRO.
 
Also, radiologists requested clarifications to the guidelines for diagnostic ultrasounds and noninvasive vascular procedures to allow you to report color and spectral Doppler scans.