Radiology Coding Alert

Question: Our radiologist performed a left upper-extremity venogram with contrast into the peripheral IV located in the hand. Which codes should we report for this procedure?

Louisiana Subscriber

Answer: You should report 36005-52 (Injection procedure for extremity venography [including introduction of needle or intracatheter]; Reduced services) for the injection of the contrast during venography and 75820 (Venography, extremity, unilateral, radiological supervision and interpretation) for your RS&I. Because 36005 includes both access and injection, you must append modifier -52 to indicate that you injected contrast into an existing IV and therefore didn't introduce a needle.
 
Remember to append modifier -26 (Professional component) to 75820 if you perform the service in a hospital, because the hospital will also report 75820 to reflect the fact that you used hospital-owned equipment.
 

- The answers for You Be the Coder and Reader Questions were reviewed by Cindy C. Parman, CPC, CPC-H, RCC, co-owner of Coding Strategies Inc. in Dallas, Ga; and Gary S. Dorfman, MD, FACR, FSIR, past representative to the AMA's CPT Advisory Committee for the Society of Interventional Radiology.