Pathology/Lab Coding Alert

Don't lose $$ over negative results.Stool testing for patients with diarrhea might involve screening, cultures, and/or antigen tests. Follow our experts' tips to help you sort through the lab methods and payer coverage rules to make sure you're not leaving money on the table.1. Distinguish Stool Culture from Screening Culture To identify enteric organisms that could be the cause of diarrhea, the lab might culture a stool specimen to encourage growth of several possible causative organisms. For instance, the physician might request a routine stool culture, which would likely include cultures for Salmonella/ Shigella and Campylobacter. Or the physician could request a comprehensive enteric pathogen culture,  which might additionally culture for Yersinia and Vibrio and possibly enterohemorragic E. coli (E. coli 0157).Do this: Report the Salmonella/Shigella culture as 87045 (Culture, bacterial; stool, aerobic, with isolation and preliminary examination [e.g., KIA, LIA], Salmonella and Shigella species). You should additionally list 87046 [...]