Radiology Coding Alert

Hint: Not all services merit modifier 62, so know how to pinpoint the ones that do. When your radiologist pairs with a vascular surgeon to perform endovascular abdominal aortic aneurysm repair, you have to take a shared approach to coding, too. Work your way through this sample procedure to see if you can spot where you should and shouldn't stake your claim. Follow Procedure From Cut-Down and Cath In a typical two-physician procedure, the surgeon performs the cut-down exposure of the common femoral arteries. For this work, the surgeon -- not the radiologist -- would assign 34812 (Open femoral artery exposure for delivery of endovascular prosthesis, by groin incision, unilateral) for each access made, says Jolynn Van Ert, ARRT, CPC, CIRCC, radiology support specialist with Luther Midelfort hospital and clinic in Eau Claire, Wis. The radiologist then places sheaths in a retrograde manner. Via these sheaths, the radiologist then places catheter(s) into [...]