Pathology/Lab Coding Alert

Question: A clinician requested a “panel” of tests to aid in the diagnosis of growth hormone deficiency. The test involves collecting blood at multiple time intervals following administration of glucagon and arginine. The panel the lab performs includes five measures of cortisol, six measures of growth hormone, and seven measures of glucose. Should we bill this as 80435?

Oregon Subscriber

Answer: No, you should not report 80435 (Insulin tolerance panel; for growth hormone deficiency This panel must include the following: Glucose (82947 x 5) Human growth hormone (HGH) (83003 x 5)) for the testing you describe.

Code 80435 involves administration of glucose and insulin, not glucagon and arginine. Also, the analytes and number of repetitions your lab performed do not specifically align with 80435.

Do this: When a clinician requests a panel that is not described by a specific CPT^® code, you should separately code each of the tests involved. In this case, you should report the following:

• 82533 (Cortisol; total) x 5
• 82947 (Glucose; quantitative, blood (except reagent strip) x 7
• 83003 (Growth hormone, human (HGH) (somatotropin)) x 6