Pathology/Lab Coding Alert

You Be the Coder:

Limit Venipuncture Units

Question: If we have a chart for a hospital outpatient that shows multiple blood draws for different lab tests, can we bill multiple units of 36415? Is the answer different for hospital inpatients?
Kentucky Subscriber Answer: You shouldn’t separately bill venipuncture for hospital inpatients — the service is included in the DRG rate structure.

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