Re: Question about new CPT codes

From: Tom Sawyer <TSAWYER@MCO.EDU>
Date: Fri Dec 10 2004 - 08:46:02 EST
Sara's questions are very important. There seems to be a great deal of
confusion out there on these issues. We are debating the same issues at
our institution and would like to reach a decision by Jan 1. There
must/should be a correct way of doing this not a way someone "thinks" is
the correct way. I "think"  the codes for T's, B's and NK's should be
used for what most people call immunodeficiency panels and "think" the
new codes 88184 and 88185 should be use for immunophenotyping of
leukemias and lymphomas. I was also under the impression that the CD45
gating control was not billable when performing things such as CD4
counts. Would someone who truely knows, not thinks they know, PLEASE
respond to our questions. None of us want to recommend something that
could lead to our institutions getting in trouble if they were audited
by Medicare.

Thank You,

Tom 

Tom Sawyer
Flow Cytometry Specialist
Flow Cytometry Laboratory 32HE
Medical College of Ohio
3055 Arlington Ave.
Toledo, OH  43614-5806
Phone:	419.383.4212
Fax:  419.383.3076
email:	tsawyer@mco.edu


>>> "Markestad, Sara" <SMarkestad@sjha.org> 12/09/04 10:05AM >>>
Hello Flowers!

My question concerning the additional markers. 

1: For our CD4/CD8 Panel we do the following markers:
CD3,CD19,CD4,CD8,CD45

Our question is can we bill the following codes for this panel
86064 - for B cell total (CD19)
86359 -  for T cell total (CD3)
86360 - for CD8 absolutes and ratio
86361 - for CD4 absolute count
88185 - CD45

2. For our Leukemia and Lymphoma Panel
	Can we bill this way:
	86064 - for B cell total (CD19)
	86359 - for T cell Total (CD3)
	86379 - for NK cells (CD56)
	88184 - for our first marker
	88185 - for all other markers that are done in the panel

	or do we have to just use 88184 and 88185 for all makers in a
Leukemia/Lymphoma Panel.

3. The CD34 stem cell CPT is that for those labs that do Bone Marrow
Transplant. We use it in our L/L Panel but we didn't think that we could
bill this antibody 86587  
   because we don't do transplants here just evaluations.

Any help with these questions would be greatly appreciated.



Sara Markestad, MT (ASCP)
St. Joseph's Hospital of Atlanta
404-851-7744



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Received on Fri Dec 10 15:58:00 2004

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