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Oncology & Hematology Coding Alert

READER QUESTIONS:

Assign 36511-36516 for Apheresis

Published on Fri Apr 14, 2006

Question: We-ve recently begun performing apheresis for leukemia patients. How should we code this procedure?


Pennsylvania Subscriber


Answer: When reporting apheresis, choose from the following six codes:

- 36511--Therapeutic apheresis; for white blood cells
- 36512--...for red blood cells
- 36513--...  for platelets
- 36514--...  for plasma pheresis
- 36515--... with extracorporeal immunoadsorption and plasma reinfusion
- 36516--... with extracorporeal selective adsorption  or selective filtration and plasma reinfusion. Apheresis (also known as pheresis or therapeutic pheresis) is a medical procedure in which the physician removes selected blood constituents (plasma, leukocytes, platelets, or cells) from whole blood. The physician retransfuses the remainder into the person from whom the blood was taken, in addition to saline or another fluid to maintain blood volume.

Oncologists are most likely to perform apheresis in the treatment of leukemia or hyperglobulinemias, including (but not limited to) multiple myelomas.
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