Summary & Overview
CPT 78700: Kidney Scan, Renal Structure and Function
CPT code 78700 represents a nuclear medicine kidney scan used to evaluate renal structure, perfusion, and functional drainage. The code captures both cortical imaging — assessing kidney shape and cortical integrity — and functional studies that measure radionuclide transit through the renal collecting system. Kidney scans inform diagnosis and management of obstructive uropathy, renal perfusion deficits, and congenital or acquired anatomic abnormalities, making the code clinically significant across inpatient and outpatient imaging settings nationwide.
Key payers covered in this analysis include Aetna, Blue Cross Blue Shield, Cigna, UnitedHealthcare, and Medicare. Readers will find a concise overview of clinical context for the service, typical sites of service, and the operational scope of the procedure. The publication summarizes common modifiers associated with imaging services, notes where input data was not available, and highlights which elements (benchmarks, payor policies, and coding guidance) are covered in detail elsewhere in the full report.
This executive summary frames CPT code 78700 for clinicians, billing staff, and policy analysts seeking a national perspective on utilization and administrative considerations of nuclear medicine kidney scans.
Billing Code Overview
CPT code 78700 describes a kidney scan, a nuclear medicine study used to evaluate renal structure, function, and renal blood flow. The procedure includes cortical scans to assess the shape and cortical integrity of the kidneys and functional scans to measure transit time of a radionuclide through the kidneys into the urine and bladder.
Service type: Nuclear medicine diagnostic imaging
Typical site of service: Hospital outpatient imaging departments, outpatient radiology or nuclear medicine centers, and specialized imaging clinics.
Clinical & Coding Specifications
Clinical Context
A 48-year-old patient with recurrent flank pain and unexplained decline in renal function is referred by a nephrologist for a nuclear medicine kidney scan to evaluate renal perfusion and function. The referring clinician documents serum creatinine elevation, asymmetric kidney size on ultrasound, and a history of suspected obstruction. The nuclear medicine department schedules a renal cortical and functional scintigraphy study using a radiopharmaceutical such as Tc-99m mercaptoacetyltriglycine (MAG3) or Tc-99m dimercaptosuccinic acid (DMSA) depending on the clinical question.
The clinical workflow includes: referral and indication review by radiology/nuclear medicine, patient arrival with informed consent and assessment of renal function and allergy history, intravenous access placement, radiopharmaceutical administration, dynamic imaging for perfusion and excretory phase (functional scan) and delayed static cortical imaging if indicated, image processing and calculation of differential renal function and drainage curves, interpretation by a board-certified nuclear medicine physician, and delivery of the signed report to the referring provider for management decisions such as urology consultation for suspected obstruction or nephrology follow-up for suspected cortical scarring or differential renal function loss.
Coding Specifications
| Modifier | Description | When to Use |
|---|---|---|
26 | Professional component | When reporting only the interpreting physician’s professional component separate from technical services (facility billed separately). |