Date of Service Reporting for Radiology Services

Providers need to ensure that they are reporting radiology dates of service the way the payer has requested. Unlike many other professional services which only have one date of service (DOS), radiology services can span multiple dates.

There seems to be some disagreement between professional organizations and payers as to which date to use. Back in October 2017, the American College of Radiology stated that they recommended that the DOS for the professional component should be the date when the technical component was performed. However, according to MLN Matters SE17023 which was updated February 1, 2019, Medicare states that the date to report depends on the portion of the service (global, professional, technical) completed by the provider. SE17023 states that:

• If only the technical component (TC) is performed, report the date the patient had the imaging performed.
• If only the professional component (PC) is performed, report the date the report was completed.
• If the provider performs both components (global service), then it doesn't matter which date of service they choose to report. It can be either the date the imaging was performed or the date when the review and interpretation is completed.

Be aware of payer specific requirements which may differ from Medicare.

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