Radiology Coding Alert

Question: Would you explain when to report CPT 76770? I've heard that "complete" has a new meaning in 2005.

Kentucky Subscriber

Answer: Great catch! The CPT requirements for reporting 76770 have become much stricter this year. You now have to see documentation on all the organs in an anatomic region to legitimately code a complete ultrasound.
 
According to the CPT guidelines, code 76770 (Ultrasound, retroperitoneal [e.g., renal, aorta, nodes], B-scan and/or real time with image documentation; complete) now requires comments on B mode scans of kidneys, abdominal aorta, common iliac artery origins, and inferior vena cava. And documentation should support "any demonstrated retroperitoneal abnormalities." If it's a urinary tract problem, you need to see documentation on the kidneys and urinary bladder.
 
If your radiologist doesn't want to change his current dictation method, tell him that leaving out a sentence on one organ just cost him about $30, because you instead had to report 76775 (Ultrasound, retroperitoneal [e.g., renal, aorta, nodes], B-scan and/or real time with image documentation; limited).

 - 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 Powder Springs, Ga.; and Gary S. Dorfman, MD, FACR, FSIR.