Wiki Radiation Oncology Diagnosis

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Can someone please read this and tell me how it to diagnosis should be coded? There has been no biopsy done, only imaging and is being treated with Radiation Therapy. There is a discrepancy between us coders and the physician. He wants to code it as C79.31 and if we follow coding guidelines, we technically should not be coding it as that as there is no confirmed pathology. But, maybe we are wrong. Patient has a confirmed ovarian cancer. Thank you!!


Impression: CNS lesions concerning for metastatic recurrence of ovarian cancer.

Plan: patient is seen today at the request of medical oncology to review her imaging and discuss the next steps in work-up and management of her CNS lesions. We discussed her oncologic history and consideration that these lesions may be cancer-related. We discussed that absent pathology, any treatment directed to the brain would be under presumption of association with her prior ovarian cancer. MRI is planned later today, to confirm lesion dimensions and characteristics, as well as to provide additional detail concerning potential other CT-occult lesions which may be present. We discussed limitations of systemic therapies to penetrate the brain, and the role of radiotherapy in this setting. We discussed considerations of high-dose, limited-treatment radiosurgery (SRS) versus whole-brain directed treatments, including tradeoffs between toxicity risks, convenience, and CNS control. Given the size and location of the lesions, as well as short interval since surgery and -brain radiotherapy, possibly with left hippocampus-sparing technique (also permitting consideration of central lesion dose escalation and scalp-sparing), reserving SRS for consolidation in the event of residual or salvage in the case of recurrence.
 
Can someone please read this and tell me how it to diagnosis should be coded? There has been no biopsy done, only imaging and is being treated with Radiation Therapy. There is a discrepancy between us coders and the physician. He wants to code it as C79.31 and if we follow coding guidelines, we technically should not be coding it as that as there is no confirmed pathology. But, maybe we are wrong. Patient has a confirmed ovarian cancer. Thank you!!


Impression: CNS lesions concerning for metastatic recurrence of ovarian cancer.

Plan: patient is seen today at the request of medical oncology to review her imaging and discuss the next steps in work-up and management of her CNS lesions. We discussed her oncologic history and consideration that these lesions may be cancer-related. We discussed that absent pathology, any treatment directed to the brain would be under presumption of association with her prior ovarian cancer. MRI is planned later today, to confirm lesion dimensions and characteristics, as well as to provide additional detail concerning potential other CT-occult lesions which may be present. We discussed limitations of systemic therapies to penetrate the brain, and the role of radiotherapy in this setting. We discussed considerations of high-dose, limited-treatment radiosurgery (SRS) versus whole-brain directed treatments, including tradeoffs between toxicity risks, convenience, and CNS control. Given the size and location of the lesions, as well as short interval since surgery and -brain radiotherapy, possibly with left hippocampus-sparing technique (also permitting consideration of central lesion dose escalation and scalp-sparing), reserving SRS for consolidation in the event of residual or salvage in the case of recurrence.

I agree with you - you can't code C79.31 with that documentation.

The documentation also states that the patient has "prior ovarian cancer" - which reads to me as "history of ovarian cancer." Does the patient have current, active ovarian cancer, or is it a prior history and they're assuming these lesions may related to it?

FWIW, I code radiation oncology too. If you're interested, there's a Radiation Oncology Billers and Coders group on Facebook that you can join: https://www.facebook.com/groups/radiationoncologycoders
 
Maybe an R90.0 for the consult? (Intracranial space-occupying lesion found on diagnostic imaging of central nervous system) Along with the prior history of ovarian cancer.

Once the simulations, planning, and treatment begin, you'll want a more definitive diagnosis of course.
 
Maybe an R90.0 for the consult? (Intracranial space-occupying lesion found on diagnostic imaging of central nervous system) Along with the prior history of ovarian cancer.

Once the simulations, planning, and treatment begin, you'll want a more definitive diagnosis of course.
I've had to do this and explain to the doctor why it wouldn't be coded as a neoplastic code. If the documentation doesn't show a definitive cancer diagnosis, they will have issues getting an authorization for the services and/or recoupment should they be audited due to medical necessity.
 
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