Cardiac stress test billing turns on 3 questions: which kind, who supervised, and where. Treadmill, stress echo and nuclear each have their own codes. We settle all 3 before the claim goes out.
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In your office, 93015 is the global treadmill test. It covers supervision, the tracing, and your interpretation and report. It fits when your practice owns the equipment and your physician supervises and reads.
In a hospital, you bill 93016 for supervision and 93018 for the read. The hospital bills 93017 for the tracing.
The ECG during the test is inside the stress codes, so 93000 isn't added.
Stress test CPT codesA stress echo is 1 study, not an echo plus a stress test. In your office, 93351 covers the imaging, the stress test and your read. In a hospital, you bill 93351-26, or 93350-26 when another provider runs the stress.
A nuclear stress test puts imaging and stress codes on 1 claim. In your office, that is 78452 for rest and stress, with 93015. In a hospital, you bill 78452-26 with 93016 and 93018.
In your office, the tracer and drug go on their own lines. Regadenoson, J2785, bills per 0.1 mg, so a 0.4 mg dose is 4 units.
Nuclear stress78452, 93015, A9500 x2, J2785 x4
Images, stress test, reads, tracer and drug
78452-26, 93016, 93018
Your image read, supervision and stress read
Medicare requires direct supervision for every stress test. 93016 goes under the provider who supervised, not the one who read it later. An NP or PA can supervise within state scope, under their own NPI.
5 things commonly deny your stress test claims:
We check all 5 on every stress test claim before it goes out. When a denial comes back, we appeal it with your note.
Denials and appealsEach code pays only when your signed report supports it.
Every code with its rules| Code | What it covers |
|---|---|
| 93015 | Treadmill stress test, global (office) |
| 93016, 93017, 93018 | Supervision, tracing, interpretation and report |
| 93350, 93351 | Stress echo, without and with the supervised stress test |
| 93352 | Contrast for stress echo, add-on to 93350 or 93351 |
| 78451, 78452 | SPECT MPI, single and multiple studies |
| A9500 | Technetium sestamibi, per study dose |
| J2785, J1250 | Regadenoson, dobutamine |
We show you, by payer, which went out with the wrong setting or supervising name. Free, no strings.
3% of collectionsNo setup feeNo contract