You Be the Coder:
CLOtest
Published on Thu Jun 01, 2000
Test your coding knowledge. Determine how you would code this situation before looking at the box below for the answer.
Question: Can we bill Medicare for a CLOtest performed after a biopsy was done during an esophagogastroduodenoscopy (EGD)? If we can, what code do we use?
New York Subscriber
Answer: A CLOtest enables a gastroenterologist to detect the presence of H. pylori bacteria in a gastric biopsy. CLO stands for Campylobacter Like Organism, which is what H. pylori was called originally.
The party that provides the CLOtest is the one that bills for it. Because its usually provided by the facility where the endoscopy is being performed, the facility will be reporting it most of the time. If the gastroenterologist provides the test, then he or she may bill for it. Code 87072 (culture or direct bacterial identification method, each organism, by commercial kit, any source except urine) should be used to report the test.
