Radiology Coding Alert

Question: A procedure included a femoral artery access, cervicocerebral archogram, and selective catheterization of right axillary artery for upper extremity arteriogram. Should I charge for the cervicocerebral archogram (75650, Angiography, cervicocerebral, catheter, including vessel origin, radiological supervision and interpretation) when it is done at the time of an upper extremity arteriogram with a selective catheterization of the axillary artery (75710 + 36217)?

Washington, D.C., Subscriber

Answer: You are correct. 75650 is for the arch aortogram study. You can't report 36200, because the catheter went beyond the aorta and was then advanced selectively to catheterize the right axillary artery. Therefore, the correct coding for this study combination is 75650, 75710 (Angiography, extremity, unilateral, radiological supervision and interpretation) and 36217 (Selective catheter placement, arterial system; initial third order or more selective thoracic or brachio-cephalic branch, within a vascular family).