Pathology/Lab Coding Alert

Check out CPT 2006 microbiology stain code

Still confused about how to report a trichrome stain for micro-organisms with a direct fecal smear? Soon you'll be able to skip the surgical pathology add-on codes (88312-88313).

CPT 2006 will add a new code to the microbiology section that you should use for a trichrome fecal smear: 8720x (Smear, primary source with interpretation; complex special stain [e.g., trichrome, iron hemo-toxylin,] for ova and parasites).
 
You can find this and other new clinical laboratory codes in "Sneak a Peek at New Laboratory Codes for 2006," in the September 2005 Pathology/Lab Coding Alert. An "x" substitutes for the last digit of the code because the AMA had not fully assigned the code numbers prior to their release to CMS.

Avoid Mixing Lab/Path Codes

A CPT text note now directs microbiology coders to the surgical pathology stain codes +88312 (Special stains [list separately in addition to code for primary service]; Group I for micro-organisms [e.g., Gridley, acid fast, methenamine silver], each) and +88313 (... Group II, all other [e.g., iron, trichrome], except immunocytochemistry and immunoperoxidase stains, each).

All that should change once the microbiology section contains its own "complex" special stain code. "New code 8720x fits with CMS' continued emphasis on separate coding for anatomic pathology and clinical laboratory services, which it pays under two different fee schedules ," says Dennis Padget, MBA, CPA, FHFMA, president of DLPadget Enterprises Inc., a pathology business-practices publishing company in Simpsonville, Ky.