Primary Care Coding Alert

Question: Can we bill for an administration fee or injection when giving a PPD test? Or is it considered part of the PPD?

Iowa Subscriber

Answer: No, you should not bill an administration fee or injection fee for a PPD (tuberculosis) skin test.

Explanation: Your staff is not administering a vaccine or a subcutaneous or intramuscular injection, so codes such as 96372 (Therapeutic, prophylactic, or diagnostic injection [specify substance or drug]; subcutaneous or intramuscular) do not apply.

Instead: You'll only report 86580 (Skin test; tuberculosis, intradermal) for giving a PPD test.