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Pathology/Lab Coding Alert

Reader Questions:

86903 Units Add Up

Published on Tue Feb 08, 2011

Question: A blood transfusion patient showed two allo-antibodies: anti-C and anti-Jka. Our lab used reagent serum to screen 10 type-specific blood units for red cells that do not have the C antigen. After identifying three compatible units for anti-C, we screened those three for red cells that do not have the Jka antigen. How should we code this?Ohio SubscriberAnswer: You should report this service as 13 units of 86902 (Blood typing; antigen testing of donor blood using reagent serum, each antigen test).CPT 2011 deletes 86903 (Blood typing; antigen screening for compatible blood unit using reagent serum, per unit screened) and instructs coders to report 86902 in its place.Code per antigen, per unit: A CPT 2011 instructional note tells you to report 86902 "once for each antigen for each unit tested." Your scenario involves testing 10 units for the C antigen -- that justifies reporting 86902 x 10.The lab then tests those [...]
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