Pulmonology Coding Alert

Reader Question:

2 Different Physiologic Determinations? Append -26

Question: When I report lung volume interpretations using body plethosmography, should I report both 94260-26 and 94360-26 or should I report only one of these codes?

Ohio Subscriber

Answer: You may code for both 94260 (Thoracic gas volume) and 94360 (Determination of resistance to airflow, oscillatory or plethysmographic methods) because the physician measures two different physiologic determinations during these procedures.

If your physician only interprets the tests, you should append modifier -26 (Professional component) to describe the interpretation. If the lab or lab group in your practice performed the tests, you should not append any modifier to your codes.

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