Radiology Coding Alert

Question: My physician is planning to perform left iliac artery angiography followed by stent placement. I need CPT® codes to obtain preauthorization from the patient's HMO. Which codes should I submit?

Codify Member

Answer: Code 37221 (Revascularization, endovascular, open or percutaneous, iliac artery, unilateral, initial vessel; with transluminal stent placement[s], includes angioplasty within the same vessel, when performed) captures both iliac angiography and stent placement.

Smart move: Payers may allow you to request pre-approval for a range of codes. The benefit to you is that if the physician discovers during the procedure that he needs to do something other than what was planned, you don't have to worry about whether the payer will cover the service. For example, during the procedure, the physician could choose to do only angiography. Consider requesting pre-approval for a wider range of codes, such as, 37220-+37223 (Revascularization, endovascular, open or percutaneous, iliac artery ...).