Contiguous Body Imaging Scans

The following information is included below to assist you when working with private payers in your locality to assure appropriate coverage of contiguous body imaging scans:

  1. ACR Bulletin coding article, “The Need to Communicate with Your Referring Physicians,” December 1996, which addresses proper coding for CT scans of the abdomen and pelvis;  
  2. ACR Practice Guideline for Performance of Computed Tomography (CT) of the Abdomen and Computed Tomography (CT) of the Pelvis;
  3. ACR’s comments to Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Massachusetts in response to a proposed medical policy that would have resulted in a fifty percent reduction in the professional component allowable when two or more imaging examinations were performed on the same date for contiguous body areas;
  4. ACR’s comments to the National Correct Coding Initiative regarding appropriate coding of CT and MRI when performed on adjacent anatomic areas; and
  5. Testimony of William T. Thorwarth, Jr., M.D., then President of the ACR and Chair of the ACR Commission on Economics, to the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MedPAC), given March 18, 2004, where he addresses the issue of perceived efficiencies in multiple imaging exams.