Radiology Coding Alert

Question: We are a radiology facility that our radiologists own, so we bill globally. We have been asked to do a second opinion read on a couple of scans done at another facility. How should we code this? Are we allowed to bill insurances? Do we need a signed consent form from the patient?New York SubscriberAnswer: For these situations, experts suggest checking with the relevant payers and getting their preferences in writing for these services. The most applicable code for second opinion or over-read services in which an outside physician asks the radiologist to provide a new interpretation of an existing study is 76140 (Consultation on x-ray examination made elsewhere, written report). You should not append modifier 26 (Professional component) to this code, and you should not additionally report the code specific to the imaging exam performed.Snag: Payers often don't assign relative value units (RVUs) to 76140, which means you [...]