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Pathology/Lab Coding Alert

Reader Questions:

88363: Make Sure You Understand 'Archival'

Published on Wed Apr 06, 2011

Question: We have a pathologist who signed out a case on Jan. 6, 2011. When he selected tissue from the case and sent it out on Jan. 10 for a KRAS test, he wanted to bill 88363. I thought 88363 was for archived specimens, so I wonder if this is possible. Are there specific guidelines about the number of days after signing out a case that we can consider it "archived" and use 88363?California SubscriberAnswer: The number of days between the original case and the 88363 (Examination and selection of retrieved archival [i.e., previously diagnosed] tissue[s] for molecular analysis [e.g., KRAS mutational analysis]) service is not the key factor in determining if it's appropriate to use the code, which CPT added in 2011.Definitions differ: Don't confuse CPT's use of the term "archival tissue(s)" with Medicare's definition of an "archived specimen" (older than 30 days) -- the two terms are not the [...]
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