Radiology Coding Alert

Question: If the interventional radiologist performs tube or catheter removals in a hospital exam room, should I include this as part of the E/M, or is there a more appropriate CPT code? If E/M is appropriate, should the hospital also report an E/M? If so, do the physician and hospital E/M codes need to match? Connecticut Subscriber Answer: You should include tube and cath removal as part of the E/M service. Most radiology follow-up visits will be lower-level (such as 99212, Office or other outpatient visit ...). Radiologists perform many tube and cath removals on inpatients, so inpatient E/M codes would be appropriate in those cases (for example, 99231, Subsequent hospital care, per day, for the evaluation and management of a patient ...). Remember that if the service falls within the global period, you shouldn't charge the E/M separately. The hospital may report an E/M code sometimes. For example, the [...]