Radiology Coding Alert

Question: Following a patient’s knee replacement, a physician performed a bone length study and captured anteroposterior (AP), lateral, and sunrise views of the same knee.

Can the X-rays and bone length study codes be reported together?

Washington Subscriber

Answer: You may report both procedures together. To report the bone length study, you’ll assign 77073 (Bone length studies (orthoroentgenogram, scanogram)). You’ll assign 73562 (Radiologic examination, knee; 3 views) to report the X-ray views of the patient’s knee. X-ray examination codes require the number of views, which you listed in your question. The number of views provides more specificity in coding accuracy.

Currently, the CPT^® code set doesn’t contain guidelines prohibiting reporting the two codes together. However, payer preferences may differ from CPT^® coding guidelines, so you should review your individual payer policies to ensure accurate claim reporting.