Reader Questions:
Securing CLIA Waivers Could Mean More Pay
Published on Mon Jan 19, 2009
Question: During a practice meeting last week, the subject of Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments (CLIA) waivers came up. We are currently not CLIA-waived, and we will discuss it again at next month's meeting. I was wondering if you could offer any input? Should we apply for a CLIA waiver? Oklahoma Subscriber Answer: Whether or not the waiver is worth it is up to your individual practice. However, a practice is not allowed to perform many basic laboratory services without CLIA-waived status. So if your practice does not get the waiver, you could be missing out on possible pay for some simple screens. Example: Here are a few of the tests that have CLIA-waived status to help you decide: - 81002 -- Urinalysis, by dip stick or tablet reagent for bilirubin, glucose, hemoglobin, ketones, leukocytes, nitrite, pH, protein, specific gravity, urobilinogen, any number of these constituents; non-automated, without microscopy - 82270 -- Blood, [...]
