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Oncology & Hematology Coding Alert

Reader Questions:

Brachytherapy Billing

Published on Tue Oct 01, 2002

Question: Can I bill 77790 with 77778? If the answer is yes, would you explain why? New Jersey Subscriber Answer: Yes, you can and should bill both codes when your physician is implanting a brachytherapy source. Using 77778 (Interstitial radiation source application; complex) means that "complex" is defined as greater than 10 sources or ribbons. This code is used to bill for the procedure in which the radioactive sources are placed through catheters or needles into the interstitial tissues. These radioactive sources require expert supervision of the storage, handling and loading into the catheters or needles. The radiation therapist oversees the process and handles the seeds or ribbons and manually loads them into the catheter or needle. These radioactive sources require expert supervision, handling and loading, which are captured in code 77790 (Supervision, handling, loading of radiation source).      
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