Pathology/Lab Coding Alert
Embrace Specimen Flexibility for TPMT Test
Question: Our lab is performing a test for “Thiopurine Methyltransferase (TPMT), erythrocytes.” We used to code the test as 82657. Can we use the new code 84433, even though the code does not include the term “erythrocytes” in its description? Texas subscriber Answer: Yes, you should use new code 84433 (Thiopurine S-methyltransferase (TPMT)) for the test you describe because it is more specific than the alternative generic code of 82657 (Enzyme activity in blood cells, cultured cells, or tissue, not elsewhere specified; nonradioactive substrate, each specimen). “Code 84433 does not state the specimen type, so it’s appropriate to use the code for erythrocytes or other specimens that your lab may use,” says William Dettwyler, MT-AMT, president of Codus Medicus, a laboratory coding consulting firm in Salem, Oregon. The key is to report the most specific code for the lab procedure you perform, and that is 84433.
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