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Pathology/Lab Coding Alert

Reader questions:

Deconstruct Panels to Find Most Comprehensive

Published on Fri Aug 13, 2010

Question: When a physician orders a renal function panel and hepatic function panel, can I bill both codes?Utah SubscriberAnswer: No, you should not charge for 80069 (Renal function panel) and 80076 (Hepatic function panel) for the same patient on the same day.Here's why: The two panels include one test in common -- albumin (82040, Albumin; serum, plasma or whole blood). You should not bill two panel codes when there is overlap in the component tests required by the CPT definition. Instead, you should code the most comprehensive panel plus any additional individual tests.CPT 2010 added the following instructional note to manage this issue: "Do not report two or more panel codes that include any of the same constituent tests performed from the same patient collection. If a group of tests overlaps two or more panels, report the panel that incorporates the greater number of tests to fulfill the code definition [...]
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