Wiki Brachytherapy for skin cancer

[jholt12]

Hello,
Are any of you doing Brachytherapy in the office? If so what procedure code are you using? We are getting ready to start this in our office and have been advised to use code 0182T for billing but after reading a description of the code it states that there is an implantation place near the cancer site and this is not being done when it is used for skin cancer treatment. Also I guess that Noridian has updated the coding for Brachy and has stated to use an unlisted code (17999). Can anyone recommend a better code? Thanks for your help.

 

[ablack74]

Brachytherapy

"Clinical brachytherapy requires the use of either natural or man-made radioelements applied into or around a treatment field of interest."

If this is not being done, then you should not code as "brachytherapy".

For more Brachytherapy coding education and help see the Healthcare Business Monthly for July of 2015 (click on Continuing Education, and under Healthcare Business Monthly click Current/past issues, July 2015, go to page 21-25) This is a very good article with details about many of the code changes that occurred in 2015 and could possibly help you and your company.

Amy Black ROCC, CPC, CPC-D

 

[andersont]

We started doing brachytherapy back in Oct 2014. We have had nothing but trouble getting our claims paid by Premera, Regence and Tricare. They will pay for the simulations, but not the T code. They say it's experimental. I have appealed and finally, yesterday, two of my appeals were granted. Tricare will NOT pay. Medicare has now changed to an unlisted code that bundles all services into one code and only allows $164.93 for simulation and radiation. We have shut down our brachytherapy for now.