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Pathology/Lab Coding Alert

Rethink Separate Microdissection Charge With Morphometric Analysis

Published on Fri May 22, 2009

Expect denials if you ignore new CCI 15.1 bundles. If your lab performs tissue in situ hybridization (ISH) such as Her-2/neu, you cant separately charge for microdissection tissue prep. Thats according to the latest version of the Correct Coding Initiative (CCI), effective April 1. Well help you get ready for all 13 new microdissection edit pairs that could impact your lab billing. Master Microdissection CPT lists two microdissection codes that are the subject of new CCI edits: " 88380 -- Microdissection (i.e., sample preparation of microscopically identified target); laser capture " 88381 -- & manual. Microdissection is a method for isolating a small group of cells from tissue sections, explains William Dettwyler, MT-AMT, president of Codus Medicus, a laboratory coding consulting firm in Salem, Ore. The procedure results in homogenous tumor cell samples that can improve the accuracy of sensitive molecular studies, such as polymerase chain reaction (PCR) or other amplification techniques. [...]
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