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Pathology/Lab Coding Alert

Reader Question:

Be Careful of 'Routine' Special Stains

Published on Sat Mar 13, 2010

Question: When we bill for electron microscopy, can we separately code the toluidine blue stain using 88313? Louisiana Subscriber Answer: You should not routinely bill 88313 (Special stains; Group II, all other [e.g., iron, trichrome], except immunocytochemistry and immunoperoxidase stains, including interpretation and report, each) in addition to your bill for electron microscopy (88348, Electron microscopy; diagnostic). List diagnostic test code: Report 88348 when the pathologist examines ultra-thin sections of tissue using a conventional transmission electron microscope (CTEM). The service includes a written diagnosis and report. You’ll commonly see diagnostic CTEM services with muscle, nerve, or kidney biopsy cases performed by neuropathologists or renal pathology specialists. You are correct that slides prepared for CTEM typically involve toluidine blue staining. You are also correct that this type of stain falls under the 88313 special stain code for conventional microscopy. That’s because for light microscopy, toluidine blue is not routine, but is [...]
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