THE CODING CORNER: Where All of Your Coding Questions Are Answered

Posted 9:18 AM, March 6, 2007, by jaruiz

By Darryl Costales
(Image courtesy of Mark Riesenberger)

ULTRASOUND OF THE ABDOMEN
Question: What anatomical structures need to be imaged and mentioned in a dictated report when performing an ultrasound (US) of the abdomen complete, CPT 76700 (.81 WRVU's)?

Answer: According to the 2007 CPT-4 coding manual, a complete US of the abdomen includes the liver, spleen, gall bladder, common bile duct, pancreas, kidneys, the upper abdominal aorta, and inferior vena cava, including any demonstrated abdominal abnormality. All of these structures need to be imaged and dictated in the report in order to bill correctly.

If you image and dictate a single organ, quadrant, or follow-up exam, then the appropriate charge would be an ultrasound abdomen limited, CPT 76705 (.59 WRVU's).

Have you got a question for the Coding Corner on billing, procedure codes, modifiers, or other related issues? Is there a topic you would like to see in a future issue? Just looking for general information? Ask us and we will do our best to answer your questions clearly and accurately (darrylc@stanford.edu).