Pathology/Lab Coding Alert
You Be the Coder ~ Use Most Specific Interpretation Code
Louisiana Subscriber
Answer: No, you should not report 80500 (Clinical pathology consultation; limited, without review of patient's history and medical records) for the services you describe.
CPT provides more specific codes for interpreting and reporting results of peripheral blood smear, bone marrow aspiration and fine needle aspiration (FNA). You should always report the most specific code available to describe the service.
Instead of 80500, use the following codes to report your pathologist's interpretation and report:
- 85060 -- Blood smear, peripheral, interpretation by physician with written report
- 85097 -- Bone marrow, smear interpretation
- 88173 -- Cytopathology, evaluation of fine needle aspirate; interpretation and report.
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