Question:
A patient undergoes a PET scan with CT for attenuation correction and anatomic localization. Should the CT imaging be separately charged in this case when reporting 78433?
Answer:
78433 does include CT for both attenuation correction and anatomic localization (i.e., fusion imaging). However, do not charge separately for diagnostic CT imaging unless a full and complete diagnostic CT scan (i.e., not just fusion imaging) is ordered and performed. If a full and complete diagnostic CT is separately ordered, medically necessary, and performed, assign the anatomic site-specific CT code, append the CT code with modifier 59, in addition to the appropriate PET imaging code.
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