Radiology Question for the Week of March 13, 2023

Question:

Would code 76881 or 76882 be the correct code assignment if an ultrasound is performed to evaluate multiple joints for the presence of arthritis? Would it be appropriate to assign a code per joint evaluation?

Answer:

It is inappropriate to report code 76881, Ultrasound, complete joint (ie, joint space and peri-articular soft-tissue structures), real-time with image documentation or 76882 Ultrasound, limited, joint or focal evaluation of other nonvascular extremity structure(s) (eg, joint space, peri-articular tendon[s], muscle[s], nerve[s], other soft-tissue structure[s], or soft-tissue mass[es]), real-time with image documentation in this scenario when a survey study is performed. These codes were not created to be reported for a survey evaluation. Therefore, until a new code, or series of codes, for an ultrasound extremity survey is created, this type of survey study should be reported with unlisted procedure code 76999.

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