UnitedHealthcare to Change Radiation Notification Policy

UnitedHealthcare will require all network physicians and other healthcare providers, facilities and ancillary providers to participate in its Commercial Radiology Notification Program, effective Feb. 15, 2010, according to a report from the American Academy of Professional Coders.

Under the change, the ordering physician's office will be required to obtain a notification number prior to patients receiving CT scans, MRIs, MRAs, PET scans and nuclear medicine studies, according to the report. A copy of CPT and HCPCS codes covered under the requirement are available at the UnitedHealthcare Web site (pdf).

UnitedHealthcare officials cited reasons for the including in-network physicians such as radiation exposure, administrative complexities and inconsistencies and imaging inefficiencies, according to the report.

Read the AAPC's report on UnitedHealthcare's radiation notification policy change.

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