Advanced Search

Pathology/Lab Coding Alert

Reader Questions:

681.0x Leads Finger Infection Choices

Published on Tue Feb 08, 2011

Question: A physician ordered a culture to identify the pathogen involved in a soft tissue infection on a patient's finger. What are the correct diagnosis and procedure codes?Tennessee SubscriberAnswer: You should report the skin culture as 87070 (Culture, bacterial; any other source except urine, blood or stool, aerobic, with isolation and presumptive identification of isolates).Presumptive identification involves "identification by colony morphology, growth on selective media, Gram stains or up to three tests (e.g., catalase, oxidase, indole, urease)," according to CPT. If the lab performs additional tests to definitively identify the organism, you should also report 87077 (Culture, bacterial; aerobic isolate, additional methods required for definitive identification, each isolate).Diagnosis varies: Regarding the correct diagnosis code, the answer depends on the type of infection. If the physician describes cellulitis to the finger, you should report one of the following codes: 681.00 (Cellulitis and abscess of finger and toe; finger; unspecified), 681.01 (... [...]
You’ve reached your limit of free articles. Already a subscriber? Log in.
Not a subscriber? Subscribe today to continue reading this article. Plus, you’ll get:
  • Simple explanations of current healthcare regulations and payer programs
  • Real-world reporting scenarios solved by our expert coders
  • Industry news, such as MAC and RAC activities, the OIG Work Plan, and CERT reports
  • Instant access to every article ever published in your eNewsletter
  • 6 annual AAPC-approved CEUs*
  • The latest updates for CPT®, ICD-10-CM, HCPCS Level II, NCCI edits, modifiers, compliance, technology, practice management, and more
*CEUs available with select eNewsletters.

Other Articles in this issue of

Pathology/Lab Coding Alert

View All