MRI Safety, Remote Scanning, and the New CPT Codes

MRI carries no radiation dose and the highest instantaneous risk in the department. The new codes finally pay for the work that prevents it.

Hosted by Dianne Keen · with Laura Manser and Geralyn Fernandez

Guests

Laura Manser

Director of Provider Education, PBS Radiology Business Experts

Geralyn Fernandez

Associate Director of MRI

The recap

Safety, remote scanning, and the new MRI codes

In this Voices of Experience webinar, Dianne Keen is joined by Geralyn Fernandez, Associate Director of MRI at Remote Rad Tech, and Laura Manser, Director of Provider Education at PBS Radiology Business Experts, for a practical session on MRI safety, remote scanning, and the CPT codes that now describe MRI safety work.

They start where the risk actually sits. MRI uses no ionizing radiation, which is exactly why teams underestimate it: a powerful static field, radiofrequency heating and acoustic noise each carry a separate hazard, and incidents are usually traced back to a procedure rather than to one person's mistake. From there the conversation turns to screening everyone who enters the zone, preparing and gowning patients properly, how a site is assessed for remote scanning, and how the new time-based codes are documented and billed.

In this episode

Four things worth your time

Why No Radiation Does Not Mean Safe: The static field, radiofrequency heating and acoustic noise as three distinct hazards, and why the absence of a radiation dose makes all three easier to underestimate.

Incidents Are Procedural, Not Personal: Why MRI accidents usually trace back to a policy or a process rather than one individual, and what that means for how a department writes and enforces screening.

The Unglamorous Habits That Prevent Events: Gowning patients completely instead of cutting corners, screening every person who enters regardless of their role, and why a comfortable patient is a safety measure.

The New MRI Safety Codes: How the time-based codes are structured, what the rule of half means for documentation, when the work is expected to happen relative to the exam, and when it is not billable a second time.