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Radiology Coding Alert

You Be the Coder:

Meet Descriptor Requirements for X-Ray Code

Published on Mon Jan 23, 2006

Question: How should I code three views of the ribs (unilateral) with no chest involved?


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Answer: Even though you performed three views, you should report CPT 71100 (Radiologic examination, ribs, unilateral; two views).

Why: If your documentation shows no films of the patient's chest, you can't report three-view code 71101 (... including posteroanterior chest, minimum of three views), which specifically includes "posteroanterior chest" in its descriptor.

Watch for: Check the documentation to confirm the exact description of the three views that the radiology technologist performed. The radiologist or technologist may document that the third rib view was indeed a single-view chest, although with different exposure factors than a practitioner might use to detect primary pulmonary pathology. Because 71101's descriptor doesn't specify radiographic technique, if your technologist performed a chest view along with the rib views, you should report 71101.
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