When a urine specimen or pap smear is sent to a reference lab, code 99000 should be used to bill for specimen handling. Note that Medicare does not pay on 99000. Use Q0091 for pap smears when billing Medicare. Always note the dosage amount.
Many offices fail to bill for the proper dosage of the drug.
When a physician removes a malignant lesion, do not automatically code from the 11600-11646 section of the CPT book. Codes from the Musculoskeletal section may more appropriately describe the service and the reimbursement rate is substantially higher. Many physicians, particularly primary care physicians, fail to use these codes as often as they should making their practice profile statistics inaccurate. Practices should never put a diagnosis on a claim or use the regular visit codes in these circumstances in order to get the claim paid by the insurance company. Back to Index Watch out for upcoding of evaluation and management codes.