Radiology Coding Alert

Don't code guidance in addition to 49084 either.Prior to Jan.1, 2012, abdominal paracentesis and peritoneal lavage shared codes -- meaning that you couldn't use codes to distinguish which procedure your physician actually performed. Plus, you needed to know whether your physician was performing an initial service or a subsequent peritoneal procedure -- a fact that was often difficult to ascertain from the encounter note. CPT® 2012 changes all that by deleting the following codes: 49080, Peritoneocentesis, abdominal paracentesis, or peritoneal lavage (diagnostic or therapeutic); initial 49081, ... subsequent.Those codes have been replaced with the following new codes: 49082, Abdominal paracentesis (diagnostic or therapeutic); without imaging guidance 49083, ... with imaging guidance 49084, Peritoneal lavage, including imaging guidance, when performed. These new codes apply when the physician "treats a patient with accumulated peritoneal fluid or possible internal bleeding," explains Marcella Bucknam, CPC, CCS-P, CPC-H, CCS, CPC-P, COBGC, CCC, manager of compliance [...]