Implementing a Systematic Approach to Improve Governance and Deployment of Imaging Codes in Radiology

Unlike medical procedure (Current Procedural Terminology [CPT]) and diagnostic (International Classification of Diseases [ICD]) codes, imaging (IMG) codes are defined at the local, institutional level. IMG codes are used within an organization to define IMG procedures and how they are routed between information systems. Our purpose is to describe the implementation of a reorganization (referred to as the IMG code cleanup) and governance structure deployed at a large children's hospital and the initial effects of that implementation. The number of IMG codes precleanup was 1388 and postcleanup was 826. This is a reduction by 40%. The mean number of addendums to radiology reports for billing reasons per month was 31.7 before and 18.6 after the IMG code cleanup. This represents a 41% decrease. We believe that the reorganization, standardization of the approach to naming and coding, reduction in the number of IMG codes, as well as governance structure put in place to maintain that organization has had both direct and indirect effects on the department's ability to both provide reliable IMG services and position the department to improve.