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Free Medical Coding > Medicare Articles > Billing and Coding: Pulmonary Function Testing

Billing and Coding: Pulmonary Function Testing

January 10, 2023 by Vivek

Article ID: 57216
Article Title: Billing and Coding: Pulmonary Function Testing
Article Type: Billing and Coding
Original Effective Date: 10/01/2019
Revision Effective Date: 10/01/2022
Revision Ending Date: N/A
Retirement Date: N/A

The following coding and billing guidance is to be used with its associated Local Coverage Determination.

Pulmonary Function Testing codes:

CPT codes relative to Medicare’s standards of reasonable and necessary care are: 94070, 94200, 94640, 94726, 94727 and 94729.

  1. Spirometry – CPT codes for Spirometry include 94010, 94011, 94012, 94060, 94070, 94150, 94200, 94375, 94726 and 94727. Routine and/or repetitive billing for unnecessary batteries of tests is not clinically reasonable.
  2. Lung Volume – CPT codes for lung volume determination are 94013, 94726, 94727 and 94728.
  3. Diffusion Capacity – CPT codes for diffusion capacity include 94729.
  4. Pulmonary stress testing – CPT codes for pulmonary stress testing include 96417, 96418, 94619 and 96421.

CPT 94664 is intended for device “demonstration and/or evaluation” and will be usually paid for once per beneficiary for the same provider or group. (Occasional extenuating circumstances, new equipment, etc, may merit two sessions or other repeat training or evaluation. Simple follow-up observation during an E/M exam for pulmonary disease is not a stand-alone procedure, unless the E/M session is not billed).

Documentation Requirements

Supportive documentation evidencing the condition and treatment is expected to be documented in the medical record and be available upon request.

Contractors are explicitly authorized to request additional documentation from third parties (e.g. ordering physician) when needed to evaluate the medical necessity of the service and may consider care prior to or subsequent to the service in question.

Each claim must be submitted with ICD-10-CM codes that reflect the actual condition of the patient. The mere listing of an ICD-10-CM code alone does not justify the test if the overall context and condition of the patient do not support necessity of the test.

All providers of pulmonary function tests should have on file a referral (an order, a prescription) with clinical diagnoses and requested tests. Indications in the primary medical record must be available for review.

All equipment and studies should meet minimum standards as outlined by the American Thoracic Society.

Spirometry studies, in particular, require 3 attempts to be clinically acceptable.

All studies require an interpretation with a written report. Computerized reports must have a physician’s signature attesting to review and accuracy.

Documentation must be available to Medicare upon request and must be legible. The medical record must document the test results and usage in treatment.

American Thoracic Society and the American Lung Association and the American College of Chest Physicians have published guidelines for typical usage of pulmonary function tests which represent typical community norms.

Follow up testing which is weekly or monthly is appropriate only when clinically required, such as in periods of acute exacerbation of interstitial lung disease.

PFTs are diagnostic, not therapeutic. PFTs are not used to demonstrate breathing exercises.

Demonstration/observation of a nebulizer (94664) is usually used once or at rare intervals as a stand-alone procedure code. See Indications and Limitations.

Filed Under: Medicare Articles

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