Pathology/Lab Coding Alert

Question: Our pathology lab performs outside consults on referred slides from other institutions. What date of service should we use as the date of service -- the date of surgery, the date we receive the slides, or the date we dictate the report? Answer: Per Medicare rules, you must use the specimen collection date as the date of service (DOS) for any technical component (TC) pathology service (such as 88323-TC, Consultation and report on referred material requiring preparation of slides, technical component) with two exceptions: 1. If you're using an archived specimen (one that's been in storage more than 30 days), you should use the date the specimen is taken from storage as the DOS. 2. If you're using a stored specimen (one that's been in storage at least 14 days but not more than 30 days), you should use the date you perform the service. Follow this rule only if [...]