Ask Dr. Z

Is an MD procedure description of "coronary angio performed", or "contrast injection was used to obtain coronary angiograms" really enough to code selective coronary angio? The hospital I work for says it is OK if the MD signs the department produced procedure log (which states "5 French catheter used for angio of left coronary artery" and "5 French catheter used for angio of right coronary artery") and the MD chooses "selective coronary angiogram" from the procedure quick pick list. The MD description of procedural results range from "normal coronaries" to describing far branches of each artery.