tci Part B Insider - 2013 Issue 29

Reader Question: Stop Hunting for Culture Collection Code

Question: One of our providers will often dictate that he “obtained a culture for biopsy” and sent it for study. I have looked everywhere and cannot find a definitive code for the collection—I only find codes for the culture study itself. Is there a procedure code for the collections of specimens that we can use? Supercoder.com Subscriber Answer: In most cases, you cannot separately charge for collecting a specimen to send to the lab for culture, such as a purulent fluid or bone swab at the time of a biopsy. Medicare and other payers assume that...

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