Wiki Bone Marrow Aspirate Units

[Kdailey]

I am trying to clear up some confusion regarding CPT code 85097 for interpretation of a bone marrow aspirate and how the units should be counted.

My understanding is that you should bill one unit per aspiration because the specimen is the aspiration and pathology units are counted per specimen.

I have others who feel that the units should be counted by the number of smears made from the aspirate.

For example: 1 aspirate taken, 4 smears were made and reviewed. Should 85097 be billed with 1 unit or 4 units?

Thank you in advance for your help.

 

[bbooks]

You are correct. We are allowed to bill 85097 once per site. If 4 smears were made of the same site, we can bill 85097 once. If 4 smears were made from 4 different sites, then 85097 can be bill X4.

 

[Kdailey]

Thank you very much!