Radiology Question for the Week of October 22, 2018

Question:

One of our patients had a lung ventilation-perfusion scan with SPECT/CT Imaging. How is this coded?

Answer:

There is no one good way to code a ventilation and perfusion scan with SPECT/CT. Other than the parathyroid SPECT/CT code (78072), there are no CPT^® codes for SPECT/CT procedures. The Society of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging (SNMMI) recommends that you report the organ-specific SPECT code with unlisted code 78999. Providers should ask payers how they want this charged.

Unfortunately, there is no organ-specific SPECT code for the respiratory system. We see two options:

Assign 78582 for the ventilation/perfusion scan and 78999 for the SPECT/CT.OR
Assign 78803 for the SPECT scan with 78999 for the CT fusion. In this option, you would not report 78582 separately.

CPT^® is a registered trademark of the American Medical Association.

Fee schedules, relative value units, conversion factors and/or related components are not assigned by the AMA, are not part of CPT, and the AMA is not recommending their use. The AMA does not directly or indirectly practice medicine or dispense medical services. The AMA assumes no liability for data contained or not contained herein.

CPT is a registered trademark of the American Medical Association.

Radiology Question for the Week of October 22, 2018

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