Cardiology Coding Alert

Question: When the cardiologist interprets multiple MPIs on a single day, we report CPT 78452 . What if the rest and stress portions were performed on separate days?

Georgia Subscriber

Answer: You should report 78452 (Myocardial perfusion imaging, tomographic [SPECT] [including attenuation correction, qualitative or quantitative wall motion, ejection fraction by first pass or gated technique, additional quantification, when performed]; multiple studies, at rest and/or stress [exercise or pharmacologic] and/or redistribution and/or rest reinjection) even when the tests take place over multiple days. CPT® Assistant (February 2011) confirms this use of the code.

When the cardiologist performs the interpretation and not the full tests, remember to append modifier 26 (Professional component) to 78452.