CLIA Waived Tests Effective January 1, 2017
- By Brad Ericson
- In Audit
- November 23, 2016
- 2 Comments
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has tweaked the tests it says are waived from Clinical Improvement Amendment of 1988 (CLIA), releasing the list effective January 1, 2017.
CLIA regulations require a facility to be certified for each test performed. To ensure that Medicare and Medicaid only pay for laboratory tests categorized as waived complexity under CLIA in facilities with a CLIA certificate of waiver, laboratory claims are edited at the CLIA certificate level. The Current Procedural Terminology (CPT) codes for the following new tests must have the modifier QW to be recognized as a waived test; however, some codes in the list below, such as 81002, 81025, 82270, 82272, 82962, 83026, 84830, 85013, and 85651, do not require a QW modifier to be recognized as a waived test. Below are the codes and the dates for which the tests are waived:
- G0477QW, February 12, 2016, Greenbrier International, Inc. Assured THC One Step Marijuana Test Cassette
- G0477QW, February 12, 2016, Greenbrier International, Inc. Assured THC One Step Marijuana Test Strip
- G0477QW, March 18, 2016, Safecare Biotech Urine Test Amphetamine Cassette
- G0477QW, March 18, 2016, Safecare Biotech Urine Test Amphetamine Cup
- G0477QW, March 18, 2016, Safecare Biotech Urine Test Amphetamine DipCard
- G0477QW, March 18, 2016, Safecare Biotech Urine Test Cocaine Cassette
- G0477QW, March 18, 2016, Safecare Biotech Urine Test Cocaine
- G0477QW, March 18, 2016, Safecare Biotech Urine Test Cocaine DipCard
- G0477QW, March 18, 2016, Safecare Biotech Urine Test Marijuana Cassette
- 0477QW, March 18, 2016, Safecare Biotech Urine Test Marijuana Cup
- G0477QW, March 18, 2016, Safecare Biotech Urine Test Marijuana DipCard
- 83986QW, May 13, 2016, Teco Diagnostics OBGYN-VpH Vaginal pH Screening Kit
- G0477QW, June 9, 2016, Native Diagnostics International DrugSmart Multi-Panel Drug Screen Cup Tests
- G0477QW, June 9, 2016, Native Diagnostics International DrugSmart Multi-Panel Drug Screen Cup with OPI 2000 Tests
- G0477QW, June 9, 2016, Native Diagnostics International DrugSmart Dip Multi-Panel Drug Screen Dip Card Tests
- G0477QW, June 9, 2016, On-Site Testing Specialists, Inc. On-Site Testing Specialists Multi-Panel Drug Screen Cup Tests
- G0477QW, June 9, 2016, On-Site Testing Specialists, Inc. On-Site Testing Specialists Multi-Panel Drug Screen Cup with OPI 2000 Tests
- G0477QW, June 9, 2016, On-Site Testing Specialists, Inc. On-Site Testing Specialists Multi-Panel Drug Screen Dip Card Tests
- G0477QW, June 9, 2016, On-Site Testing Specialists, Inc. On-Site Testing Specialists Multi-Panel Drug Screen Dip Card with OPI 2000 Tests
- G0477QW, June 9, 2016, Alfa Scientific Designs, Inc. Instant-View Multi-Drug Urine Test Cup
- G0477QW, June 9, 2016, Alfa Scientific Designs, Inc. Instant-View Multi-Drug Urine Test Panel
- G0477QW, July18, 2016, Assure Tech. Co., Ltd. AssureTech Marijuana Dip Card Test
- G0477QW, July18, 2016, Assure Tech. Co., Ltd. AssureTech Marijuana Quick Cup Test
- G0477QW, July18, 2016, Assure Tech. Co., Ltd. AssureTech Marijuana Strip Test
- G0477QW, July18, 2016, Assure Tech. Co., Ltd. AssureTech Marijuana Turn-Key Split Cup Test
- G0477QW, July18, 2016, Assure Tech. Co., Ltd. AssureTech Methamphetamine Dip Card
- G0477QW, July18, 2016, Assure Tech. Co., Ltd. AssureTech Methamphetamine Quick Cup Test
- G0477QW, July18, 2016, Assure Tech. Co., Ltd. AssureTech Methamphetamine Strip Test
- G0477QW, July18, 2016, Assure Tech. Co., Ltd. AssureTech Methamphetamine Turn-Key Split Cup Test
- G0477QW, July18, 2016, Assure Tech. Co., Ltd. AssureTech Phencyclidine Dip Card Test
- G0477QW, July18, 2016, Assure Tech. Co., Ltd. AssureTech Phencyclidine Quick Cup Test
- G0477QW, July18, 2016, Assure Tech. Co., Ltd. AssureTech Phencyclidine Strip Test
- G0477QW, July18, 2016, Assure Tech. Co., Ltd. AssureTech Phencyclidine Turn-Key Split Cup Test
- 87631QW, July 25, 2016 Roche Molecular, cobas Liat System cobas Liat Influenza A/B & RSV Assay
- G0477QW, July 28, 2016, Germaine Laboratories, Inc., AimScreen Multi-Drug Urine Test DipDevice
- G0477QW, July 28, 2016, Germaine Laboratories, Inc., SafeCup II Multi-Drug Urine Test Cup
- G0477QW, July 29, 2016, NexScreen LLC, NEXSCREEN Multi-Drug Urine Test Cup
- G0477QW, July 29, 2016, NexScreen LLC, NEXSCREEN Multi-Drug Urine Test Dip Card
- 86308QW, August 4, 2016, McKesson Consult Mononucleosis Test Cassette {whole blood}
- 87880QW, September 4, 2016, Princeton BioMeditech StatusFirst Strep A
More information is available at the CMS website.
Director of Publishing at AAPC
Brad Ericson, MPC, CPC, COSC, is a seasoned healthcare writer and editor.He directed publishing at AAPC for nearly 12 years and worked at Ingenix for 13 years and Aetna Health Plans prior to that. He has been writing and publishing about healthcare since 1979. He received his Bachelor's in Journalism from Idaho State University and his Master's of Professional Communication degree from Westminster College of Salt Lake City.
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Is CPT code 82962 and 82947 still a Clia Waived test that is performed in the office?
A facility that does outpatient drug and alcohol rehab has a CLIA under my name.
They are thinking of cancelling my contract to provide physician oversight services.
If they do — am I correct that they cannot bill for their outpatient drug tests?
We’re talking the usual cup with the 8 or so drug panels on them.
Do they have to have some physician on record – and that physician have the CLIA waiver certificate?