Coding Radiology Services

Coding Radiology Services

Medical coding for radiology services can be very tricky.

Most radiology procedures, unless emergency, normally need pre-approvals in order to receive reimbursement for services rendered. Failure to get a pre-approval can result your medical billing claims for radiology being denied and rejected.

Make sure you have a pre-approval on file before the services are rendered. Contact the carrier, note the date and time that you called. Get the first and last name of whomever approves the services. You may very well need this information in the future if your medical billing claim is denied.

There are also CPT coding changes that happen often in the field of radiology.
Keeping up with those changes can be the difference between receiving a reimbursement for your services, even with a pre-approval and having your medical billing claim rejected.

Your medical billing partner knows that most carriers and Medicare require pre-approval on most radiology services, except in the cases of emergency care, and can work with your practice to help streamline the process from the time services are rendered to your patient to the point of turning in the coded medical billing form and thereby help you catch errors and omissions that while they may not cost you much money per claim, it can add up quickly to mean a very large hole in your cash flow for your practice.

A good practice for your practice is to keep the pre-approval information on file until the claim is 100% paid. Radiology claims frequently get paid in piece-meal sections until the entire claim is paid. Your medical billing partner can keep up with partially paid claims and get you the full reimbursement that you have coming.

View all Articles by: Melissa Clark, CCS-P