Wiki Radiation Onc Billing Question

[ms_priss0306@yahoo.com]

Good morning,

Can anyone help me with the following questions being asked?

1. Can we charge Field in Field breast plan for multiple field treatment or just Lat/Med?

2. Can we charge AP/Lat portal set up film for 3D treatment?

Any help would be appreciated.

Tammy Atkins, CPC

 

[teblizzy]

1. It depends on what was actually treated. If in order to deliver the treatment the individual segments are actually loaded and treated separately, then you can bill for the individual segmented devices and calculations (will depend upon your documentation and whether or not your treatment planning system also allows for the individual calculations and devices to be documented individually). If when the treatment is delivered the segments are merged into one medial and one lateral, assuming they are not mirrored, then you can bill for two total.

2. The ability to bill for imaging with 3D will depend upon what you are doing for other imaging. Just taking orthogonals could be billed as a port film. For a 3D course, the blocks will need to be verified this could support a verification simulation depending upon documentation and whether or not the physician approved prior to treatment and could also include the orthogs. If other IGRT is performed, only one set of imaging is billed and the one used to deliver the treatment is the billable code, this would typically not be the port films if another means of imaging was performed like CBCT or stereoscopic x-ray guidance.