Independent interpretation does not apply when the reporting clinician has previously reported the test. True or false?

Independent interpretation does not apply when the reporting clinician has previously reported the test. True or false?

• A. True
• B. False
• C. Only for imaging tests
• D. It depends on the test

Answer: (A)

Independent interpretation means a separate interpretive read of an imaging study by a clinician who did not perform the test and has not previously reported the study. The key idea is that the second read must be independent of the original interpretation. If the reporting clinician has already reported the test in a prior encounter, there is no new, independent interpretive reading to bill for, because the independence criterion isn’t met. In that scenario, the service cannot be billed as an independent interpretation. So the statement is true: independent interpretation does not apply when the reporting clinician has previously reported the test.

Independent interpretation means a separate interpretive read of an imaging study by a clinician who did not perform the test and has not previously reported the study. The key idea is that the second read must be independent of the original interpretation. If the reporting clinician has already reported the test in a prior encounter, there is no new, independent interpretive reading to bill for, because the independence criterion isn’t met. In that scenario, the service cannot be billed as an independent interpretation. So the statement is true: independent interpretation does not apply when the reporting clinician has previously reported the test.