Cardiology billing for practices and groups: office visits, ECGs, echos, stress tests and monitoring split between professional and technical components, imaging prior authorization, device checks and procedures with their global periods, worked inside the software you already use by a US-based team.
Cardiology billing services turn every visit, test and procedure into a paid claim. Coverage and authorizations are checked before the test is scheduled, each service is coded to who performed and who interpreted it, procedures are tracked through their global periods, and every payment, denial and patient balance is followed until it is resolved.
$321M
in improper Medicare payments to cardiology in CMS’s 2025 review, an 8.7% improper payment rate
30.3%
of those cardiology errors were incorrect coding, and another 57.9% were insufficient documentation
Cardiology bills one test in up to three pieces. An echocardiogram done in your office and read by your cardiologist is billed globally; the same echo in a hospital is billed as the reading only; and a test your practice performs but another physician reads is billed as the technical part. Add imaging authorizations, remote device monitoring periods and cath lab procedures with their own bundling rules, and every claim has more ways to fail.
Who did which part of the test decides the claim. That is why we check the site, the equipment and the reading on every diagnostic claim before it goes out, not after it is denied.
Most cardiology practices bill office visits, diagnostic tests and procedures in the same week, often for the same patient. Each one pays differently and fails in its own way. Here is where each breaks, and what we do about it.
Pays forECGs, echos, stress tests and monitoring, billed globally, as the professional reading (26) or as the technical part (TC), depending on who did what.
Where it breaks
What we do
Pays forNuclear stress tests, cardiac CT and MRI, and some echos, once the plan or its radiology benefit manager approves them.
Where it breaks
What we do
Pays forCath lab and device procedures with their global periods, plus in-person device checks and remote monitoring billed by period.
Where it breaks
What we do
Most cardiac tests have two parts: the technical component, which covers the equipment, staff and supplies, and the professional component, the physician’s interpretation and report. Whoever owns the equipment and performs the test bills the technical part (TC); whoever reads it bills the professional part (26). When one practice does both in its own office, it bills the test globally, with no modifier.
In a hospital outpatient department, the hospital bills the technical part on its own claim, so the cardiologist bills only the professional component. Billing that test globally from the practice collects money that belongs to the hospital, and it is recouped later.
What we do: before a diagnostic claim goes out, we check where the test was done, who owns the equipment and who read it. If the claim does not match, we fix it the same day, rather than send a claim that will be denied or recouped.
These are the codes behind most cardiology claims, and what payers look for on each one. Commercial plans add their own authorization and bundling rules, and we check each one.
| Code | What it covers | What payers look for |
|---|---|---|
| 99202 to 99215 | Office visits (E/M) | The level matches the decision making or time documented; modifier 25 with a same-day procedure only when the visit is separate. |
| 93000 | ECG with interpretation and report | Global when your practice performs and reads it; 93010 when you only read it. |
| 93306 | Complete transthoracic echo with Doppler | Complete only when every required element is documented; 26 or TC when the parts are split. See our echocardiogram CPT code guide. |
| 9335093351 | Stress echocardiography | 93351 includes the stress test supervision; 93350 does not. |
| 93015 to 93018 | Cardiovascular stress test, global and by component | 93015 global, or 93016 supervision, 93017 tracing and 93018 interpretation, split by who did each. |
| 78452 | Myocardial perfusion imaging, SPECT, multiple studies | Prior authorization from many plans, with the stress test billed separately. |
| 93224 to 93227 | Holter monitoring, up to 48 hours | Billed after the monitoring ends, globally or by component. |
| 93241 to 93248 | Extended ECG monitoring, over 48 hours up to 15 days | Coded by the length of the recording and who did each part. |
| 93279 to 93298 | Device programming, interrogation and remote monitoring | In-person checks per visit; remote interrogation once per 90 days, with professional and technical parts billed separately. |
| 93458 | Left heart catheterization with coronary angiography | A zero-day global period; the injections and imaging are included in the code. |
| 92928 | Coronary stent, single major artery or branch | With the artery modifier for each vessel treated. |
| 33208 | Dual-chamber pacemaker insertion | A 90-day global period for related visits. |
Your interpretation and report of a test performed on equipment you do not own.
The equipment, staff and supplies of a test someone else reads.
An office visit that is significant and separate from a same-day procedure or test. Modifier 25 explained
Identifies each vessel treated, so every artery or branch is paid once.
A second service that is separate from another billed the same day. Our modifier 59 guide
A test repeated the same day by the same physician, such as a second ECG after a change in symptoms.
Sources: Medicare Claims Processing Manual, chapter 12; CMS Physician Fee Schedule professional and technical component indicators; Medicare NCCI Policy Manual, chapter XI. CPT is a registered trademark of the American Medical Association; the descriptions above are summaries. Reviewed October 2026.
It is not for every practice. If you are a hospital-employed group whose billing the hospital handles, you do not need us. And if your in-house team keeps denials low and receivables current, keep them, and consider a periodic billing audit instead.
We look at your clean-claim rate, your denials by payer and reason, diagnostic tests billed by component, authorizations, global periods, and your aging receivables, and tell you what we find, whether or not you go further with us.
We get access to your practice management system and clearinghouse, load each payer's authorization and bundling rules and your fee schedules, list open authorizations and global periods, and agree how escalations work. Most practices are live within one to two weeks.
Visits, tests and procedures are coded and claims submitted within 24 hours. Rejections are corrected the same day, remittances posted as they arrive, components and monitoring periods checked, and denials worked to their cause, all inside your system.
A report you can read in ten minutes: what was billed and collected by payer, site and service line, what was denied and why, authorizations pending, and what is aging.
You do not change systems to work with Summit Billing Solutions. We work in the practice management and EHR systems below, and through the clearinghouse you already use. If your EHR is not shown, ask; the list grows as we onboard practices.
2%
Average claim rejection rate
24 hrs
Claims submitted within
28
Average days in A/R
Not only have they helped us streamline our operations, but their expertise has also maximized our revenue cycle, allowing us to focus more on patient care. The level of communication is outstanding; we always feel informed and supported.
Their organization and communication skills are impressive, allowing for effective and efficient collaboration.
Most billing companies charge a percentage of what they collect; some charge a flat monthly fee or a per-claim rate. For a cardiology practice, a percentage usually fits best: the company is paid when you are paid, so the incentive sits where it belongs.
Summit Billing Solutions charges between 3% and 9% of monthly collections. What moves the number for a cardiology practice is the mix of office, testing and procedure work, how many tests are split between sites, authorization volume, and how clean the receivables are when we take them on, which is why we quote your exact rate after the free account review, not before.
3% to 9%
of monthly collections
We bill for more than 40 specialties, for practices in all 50 states, from Salem, New Hampshire. Each one has its own codes, modifiers and payer rules.
A free account review looks at your clean-claim rate, your denials by payer and reason, tests billed by component, authorizations and global periods, and your aging receivables, and tells you what we would change. No cost, no obligation, and no pressure to continue. What the review covers, step by step, is on the free account review page.
50A Northwestern Drive, Salem, NH 03079
603-207-3172
(866) 906-3116
info@summitbillingsolutions.com
Mon - Fri @ 9am - 5pm
Billing can easily become stressful and overwhelming, but with their team, the entire process feels organized, manageable, and under control.