Radiology Coding Alert

Question: Please help us to understand the meaning of ‘complete’ and ‘limited’ examination when reporting codes 93975 and 93976.

New Hampshire Subscriber

Answer: For complete abdominal vessel Doppler studies, you should report 939Duplex75 ( scan of arterial inflow and venous outflow of abdominal, pelvic, scrotal contents, and/or retroperitoneal organs; complete study).

Remember, a “complete” duplex scan refers to evaluation of both arterial inflow and venous outflow for the same organ. Your physician does not need to evaluate all of the intra-abdominal vasculature in order to charge for a complete duplex (93975).

However, if your physician obtained a Doppler scan for only the hepatic arteries OR the hepatic veins, you report this as “limited” examination and submit code 93976 (Duplex scan of arterial inflow and venous outflow of abdominal, pelvic, scrotal contents, and/or retroperitoneal organs; limited study).