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Coding of surgical pathology consultations

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mamaCasell:
I work at a dermatopathology laboratory.  When we receive slides from another facility/doctor's office for a second opinion and there are multiple specimens submitted (ie- Slide A from the back, Slide B from the nose) is it correct to bill for each specimen (88321 & 88321 w/ 76 mod) or can we only bill as one unit regardless of the number of specimens?  I have worked there for 8 years and we have always billed out each specimen, however, another facility is telling us that these are being billed incorrectly and should only get one 88321 charge per patient.  We have poured over our CPT book and cannot find documentation either way.  If anyone can help me with this it would be greatly appreciated.   

Michele:
I researched your situation and it looks like you should be billing the 88321 one time, but with the number of specimens in the units.  So if you had 3 specimens you would have 88321 x 3 units.

I hope that helps,
Michele

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