Radiology Question for the Week of January 17, 2022

Can you provide the correct code for a nuclear medicine scan of the salivary gland? The patient was reported with a right parotid lesion. Images were taken from the head to neck using Tc 99m, and 17 minutes after the injection two ounces of lemon juice were given. Would 78800 be the appropriate code to assign?

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Radiology Question for the Week of December 20, 2021

Please advise if CPT® code 78452 should be coded with 78830. The technique states: A Lexiscan stress protocol was used. 12 mCi of Tc-99m Tetrofosmin was administered intravenously at rest and 43.2 mCi was administered intravenously at stress. Gated SPECT images were obtained and processed. CT images were obtained through the heart. LIMITATIONS: No prone images were obtained. The low-dose CT acquisition was performed only for attenuation correction/activity localization. There is no intravenous contrast, further limiting the CT component of the study.

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Radiology Question for the Week of November 1, 2021

We are adjusting off quite a few computed tomography (CT) scans that are performed to follow up a cancer diagnosis after treatment is complete. Our state’s local coverage determination (LCD) covers the cancer diagnosis code but does not cover the “history of” the specific cancer nor does it cover Z08 for completion of treatment. Is there any compliant way around this denial? For instance, can we bill the cancer diagnosis that is covered even though the report states no evidence of recurrence or metastasis?

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