Wiki RE: Stereotactic Radiosurgery

[shofner14]

RE: Stereotactic Radiosurgery

My provider (neurosurgeon) is billing for 2 simple cranial lesions. Each lesion is treated on a different day.
Is it correct to bill 61796 and 61797 or would I bill 61796 for the first date of service and then 61796 w/modifier 79
for the second date of service since the second stereotactic procedure is unrelated to the first lesion treated?

 

[tmarugg]

According to the AANS "Do not report more than one primary SRS code (61796 or 61798) per course of treatment. Always report the complex lesion code(s) first as these codes have higher value than the simple lesion codes."

So since your doctor is treating lesion #1 on one day, then lesion #2 on a different day, this is considered 2 courses of treatment. Therefore you would bill 61796 with the date of service for lesion #1 and 61796 with the date of service for lesion #2. No modifier is needed.

Now, if the patient had a total of 3 lesions & the doctor treated 2 on the first day & the remaining lesion the next day, for the first day your coding would be 61796, +61797 and the next day 61796.

Hope this helps!

Tammy