Radiology Coding Alert

Question: What's the proper way to report a babygram or kiddiegram? We can't decide if we should use one or two CPT Codes.


Kansas Subscriber

Answer: Your payer can tell you for sure, but the American College of Radiology (ACR) holds that you should be able to report both 71010 (Radiologic examination, chest; single view, frontal) and 74000 (Radiologic examination, abdomen; single anteroposterior view).

A babygram or kiddiegram is usually a single radiograph showing one view of the chest and one view of the abdomen of an infant. Definition: "Infant" typically means a patient who is less than 366 days old.

The ACR argues for reporting both 71010 and 74000 because it's more difficult to interpret a baby's chest and abdomen examinations than it is to interpret a similar study on an older child, such as the procedure for 76010 (Radiologic examination from nose to rectum for foreign body, single view, child).

The answers for You Be the Coder and Reader Questions were reviewed by Jackie Miller, RHIA, CPC, senior consultant with Coding Strategies Inc. in Powder Springs, Ga.; and Gary S. Dorfman, MD, FACR, FSIR.