Cardiology Coding Alert

Question: Which code applies to blood collection by capillary stick?

Maine Subscriber

Answer: The correct code for a capillary stick is 36416 (Collection of capillary blood specimen [e.g., finger, heel, ear stick]).

On the Medicare Physician Fee Schedule, this code has code status B, which means Bundled Code. The official status definition is: “Payment for covered services are always bundled into payment for other services not specified. If RVUs are shown, they are not used for Medicare payment. If these services are covered, payment for them is subsumed by the payment for the services to which they are incident. (An example is a telephone call from a hospital nurse regarding care of a patient).”