Pathology/Lab Coding Alert

Question: How should we code the test for Candida albicans when we use a commercial kit that can identify only that specific organism? We test a yeast isolate recovered from various sources using this kit. If the test is positive, we report C. albicans. If it is negative, we report yeast, not C. albicans. Is this correct?

Montana Subscriber

Answer: The test you describe screens for one specific organism only. As such, it provides presumptive identification of only C. albicans and no other yeast. It is not a definitive test and is used for screening only. The appropriate code for this test is 87081 (culture, presumptive, pathogenic organisms, screening only). Previously the test was reported with 87082, which was deleted in CPT 2001.

Although there are three other codes specifically for presumptive yeast identification depending on the source, these are not appropriate for the test you describe. These three tests, 87101 (culture, fungi [mold or yeast] isolation, with presumptive identification of isolates; skin, hair, or nail), 87102 ( other source [except blood]) and 87103 (... blood) provide presumptive identification of many fungal organisms, not just screening for one organism (in this case, C. albicans).