A patient presents at his primary care provider's office with pain in the left wrist. The physician orders a complete, three view x-ray of the wrist to be done in the outpatient department of the local hospital. The hospital will bill the technical component of the wrist x-ray. How will the radiologist bill for his services?

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

The radiologist will bill using the modifier -26 with the CPT code for the professional component of interpreting the x-ray. The code 73110 represents a complete, three-view x-ray of the wrist, and the -26 modifier indicates that only the professional component (interpretation of the x-ray) is being billed, not the technical component (taking the x-ray).

A Patient Presents at His Primary Care Provider's Office with Pain