Wiki CVT doc billing w/mod 77

[lisamaddox]

I am very new to CVT billing and am having quite a time getting accquainted with all the coding guidelines. I have done Cardiology billing for 8 years but this CVT is a whole new ball game. I have a CVT doc that is asking me to bill for "revieiwing" CT's of the chest or cath films on pt's that he is doing a consult on or has done a CABG or AVR or something along those lines. He wants me to bill for reviewing these films and tests with a modifier 77 appended to the claim. I don't think this is the correct way to do this but he says he has done it in the past and been paid for it. I was under the impression that the "reviewing" of these studies is included in the consult and/or the Critical Care follow up that he is doing. Does anyone have any suggestions or comments on this? I am really concerned that this is not OK.

 

[zaida120]

I will have to agree with you on this one. The consult does include reviewing the patients medical records including films. If he feels he spends an excessive amount of time on this then my recommendation would be for him to document his time spent, this way you can code to a higher level if documentation supports this.
I worked for a CVT as well and that is how we handled the billing for this. Hope this helps!