Reader Question:
Don't Create Electrolyte 'Panel'
Published on Mon Nov 05, 2012
Question: A physician orders blood electrolytes potassium, sodium, calcium, chloride, magnesium, and phosphate for a patient taking diuretic medication. Should we code one of the panels that includes many of these elements? Iowa Subscriber Answer: No, you should not report one of the organ and disease-oriented panel codes 80047-80076. None of the CPT® listed panels contains all and exclusively the blood tests requested by the physician. Regarding the panels, CPT® states, "These panels were developed for coding purposes only and should not be interpreted as clinical parameters." If the ordering physician requests a group of tests not identified by a panel code, based on the patient's specific clinical condition, you should code each ordered test. Report separate tests: You'll need to list the blood tests separately using the following codes: 84132 -- Potassium; serum, plasma or whole blood 84295 -- Sodium; serum, plasma or whole blood 82310 -- Calcium; total 82435 -- [...]