It makes life easier for both the patients and us. Return on Investment Concerns Prior to the densitometer purchase the clinic-referred patients for bone scans to the local hospital. We didn t have a real good handle on the number of referrals but just by polling our own physicians, we found that we each referred a minimum of 10 patients a month. Multiply that by 5 physicians and that s a lot of referrals. They do the scans.
Standard measurements are spine and dual femur.
ICD-9 Codes for someone new to bone densitometry can be challenging. We developed a template and loaded it into all of the physicians work stations. If a physician wants to refer a patient for a bone scan, they have to check a box that corresponds with the indications. Next to that box is the CPT code. That avoids any confusion.