Pathology/Lab Coding Alert

Question: Which COVID-19 tests should we report with modifier QW, because we are a lab with a certificate of waiver under the Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments (CLIA)?

Maine Subscriber

Answer: CMS has noted that the tests described by the following codes are CLIA waived and may be used for point of care (POC) testing. You should report these codes with modifier QW (CLIA waived test).

• U0002 (2019-ncov coronavirus, sars-cov-2/2019-ncov (covid-19), any technique, multiple types or subtypes (includes all targets), non-cdc)
• 87635 (Infectious agent detection by nucleic acid (DNA or RNA); severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) (Coronavirus disease [COVID-19]), amplified probe technique)
• 87426 (Infectious agent antigen detection by immunoassay technique, (eg, enzyme immunoassay [EIA], enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay [ELISA], fluorescence immunoassay [FIA], immunochemilumino­metric assay [IMCA]) qualitative or semiquantitative; severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (eg, SARS-CoV, SARS-CoV-2 [COVID-19]))
• 87428 (… severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (eg, SARS-CoV, SARS-CoV-2 [COVID-19]) and influenza virus types A and B)
• 87811 (Infectious agent antigen detection by immunoassay with direct optical (ie, visual) observation; severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) (Coronavirus disease [COVID-19]))