Radiology Coding Alert

Question: Recently, I was assigned to code a radiology report that involved a cardiac MRI procedure. The report stated the provider performed cardiac MRI without contrast. I assigned 75557 to report the procedure — was that the correct code choice?
Minnesota Subscriber

Answer: Yes! Based on the information you provided, 75557 (Cardiac magnetic resonance imaging for morphology and function without contrast material) was the correct choice for the cardiac magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) procedure without contrast material.

The 2023 CPT^® code set includes three other cardiac MRI codes:

• 75559 (… with stress imaging)
• 75561 (Cardiac magnetic resonance imaging for morphology and function without contrast material(s), followed by contrast material(s) and further sequences)
• 75563 (… with stress imaging)

The main difference between 75557 and 75559 is whether the provider also performed stress imaging with the cardiac MRI.

If the documentation specifies if the physician performed the procedure with stress imaging, you’ll need to also assign an appropriate stress testing code from the 93015-93018 (Cardiovascular stress test using maximal or submaximal treadmill or bicycle exercise, continuous electrocardiographic monitoring, and/or pharmacological stress …) code range.