Are you aware of the nuances of bladder scan coding
? Do you know when you can also separately report an E/M service? If no, you could be missing out on $66 your urologist legitimately deserves.
Here are three guidelines that'll ensure that you are not costing your urologist's well-deserved reimbursements by under-coding bladder scan encounters.
Always avoid reporting an ultrasound code
Do not bill an ultrasonic CPT code whenever your urologist uses an ultrasonic device to carry out a bladder scan. If you do so, you could be inviting denials. You need to dig into the documentation and figure out why your physician carried out the bladder scan.
Capture separate E/M service
If you are thinking you can never bill an E/M visit when you report 51798, you could be denying your practice the money it deserves. For example, if you miss out on reporting 99213 (Office or other outpatient visit), you will cost your practice $66.74 in the current year (2010).
Give modifier 26 a miss
As 51798 has no separate professional component (PC) or technical component (TC), you cannot bill only for professional services. There is no interpretation involved as 51798 is only a measurement.
The reason: Medicare's fee schedule does not split 51798 into professional and technical components; as such you cannot split the reimbursement by appending modifiers 26 (PC) and TC (technical component).
If you want to get further details on ways to unlock the mysteries of bladder scan coding and to bag more urogynecology coding tips, stay tuned to an audio conference.