Pathology/Lab Coding Alert

Question: We sometimes get six or eight prostate needle biopsies in separate containers labeled right base, left apex, etc. Should we code these as 88305 x 6 or 8? Or should we charge 88305 x 2, one for the group from the right lobe and one for the group from the left lobe?

Alabama Subscriber

Answer: If you receive multiple, separately identified prostate needle biopsies from different sites, you would code 88305 x how many you receive. Each of these specimens requires separate evaluation and diagnosis. Some of the biopsies may contain pathologic tissue, and some may be normal. The surgeon individually identifies these specimens so the pathology report can be used to locate the tumor. If these specimens are lumped together for evaluation and diagnosis, the surgeon will not know where the tumor is.


Answers to You Be the Coder and Reader Questions provided by Laurie Castillo, MA, CPC, CPC-H, CCS-P, member of the National Advisory Board of the American Academy of Professional Coders, Manassas, Va.; and R.M. Stainton Jr., MD, president of Doctors Anatomic Pathology Services, an independent pathology laboratory in Jonesboro, Ark.