Ask Dr. Z

Our surgery coders are instructed to use the chest x-ray report to confirm the final catheter tip location when it's not documented in the op report. Is this enough documentation to support code 36556 as it pertains to the final tip position? Or do we still need our surgeons to document that they actually reviewed the x-ray report themselves to confirm that the tip is in the correct central vasculature in order to report 36556 per CPT guidelines? Your previous response talks about documentation requirements for billing the imaging guidance and PICC lines, which is not what we're asking here.