Pathology/Lab Coding Alert

Question: When we bill for a screening Pap for a post-hysterectomy patient, we've found that some insurers won't cover the test when we list the ordering diagnosis as V76.47. Should we use V76.2 instead, even though the patient doesn't have a cervix? New Hampshire SubscriberAnswer: No, you should not list V76.2 (Screening for malignant neoplasms of the cervix) for a screening Pap test for a post-hysterectomy patient. As you indicate, the patient doesn't have a cervix, so V76.2 is incorrect.When you report V76.47 (Special screening for malignant neoplasms vagina), ICD-9 instructs you to "use additional code to identify acquired absence of uterus." That means you should list one of the following codes in addition to V76.47: V88.01 -- Acquired absence of both cervix and uterusV88.02 -- Acquired absence of uterus with remaining cervical stumpV88.03 -- Acquired absence of cervix with remaining uterusIf you're not documenting acquired absence of cervix, that might be [...]