Question:
Can ultrasound guidance code 76942 be used multiple times during a liver biopsy for a biopsy of multiple separate and identifiable lesions?
Answer:
The most current guidance at the time of publication in the National Correct Coding Initiative Policy for Medicare Services (Chapter 9, Section G, #3) states the following: “CPT® codes 76942, 77002, 77003, 77012, and 77021 describe radiologic guidance for needle placement by different modalities. CMS payment policy allows one unit of service for any of these codes at a single patient encounter regardless of the number of needle placements performed. The unit of service for these codes is the patient encounter, not the number of lesions, number of aspirations, number of biopsies, number of injections, or number of localizations.
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