Pathology/Lab Coding Alert

Bill for tests that precede public health surveillance. If you're one of the many labs performing influenza testing spurred by the World Health Organization's (WHO) June 11 pandemic declaration for novel influenza A (H1N1), you need to read this. Despite the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) guidelines that involve fee-exempt testing for surveillance purposes, your lab can expect to see increased billable flu testing. That's why you need to bone up on how to code tests your lab might perform. Stick With Your Influenza A/B Billing If your lab processes specimens for suspected swine flu cases by performing existing lab tests and panels, your procedure coding and billing will remain the same. Example: "Our lab performs a respiratory viral panel that physicians may order for patients with certain flu-like symptoms," says Peggy Slagle, CPC, billing compliance coordinator at the University of Nebraska Medical Center in Omaha. "We bill [...]