Pathology/Lab Coding Alert

Learn drug screen code changes for now; expect more change for April 1. You have two new HCPCS 2010 codes for Medicare beneficiary drug screens, but do you know how to use them? No sooner did CMS roll out the codes than the agency instituted some restrictions. Round up all the facts you need so you can pick the right code with just three expert tips. Tip 1: Payer Determines Code Choice If you're reporting drug screen testing for non-Medicare payers, your code choices remain the same as they have been for years: • 80100 -- Drug screen, qualitative; multiple drug classes chromatographic method, each procedure • 80101 -- Drug screen, qualitative; single drug class method (e.g., immunoassay, enzyme assay), each drug class. For Medicare patients, HCPCS 2010 introduces two new codes that you'll need to keep in mind: • G0430 -- Drug screen, qualitative; multiple drug classes other than chromatographicmethod, each procedure [...]