Laboratory Question for the Week of March 9, 2020

Question:

What are some of the Medicare criteria for billing code 81528?

Answer:

Understand that code 81528 was added in 2016 for stool-based DNA colorectal cancer screening. Medicare Part B covers this molecular pathology procedure once every three years for beneficiaries meeting all of the following:

• Between 50 and 85 years old
• Show no signs or symptoms of colorectal disease including, but not limited to, lower gastrointestinal pain, blood in stool, positive guaiac fecal occult blood test or fecal immunochemical test, and
• At the average risk of developing colorectal cancer—have no personal history of adenomatous polyps, colorectal cancer, or inflammatory bowel disease, including Crohn’s Disease and ulcerative colitis; and have no family history of colorectal cancers or adenomatous polyps, familial adenomatous polyposis, or hereditary nonpolyposis colorectal cancer

This question was answered in an edition of our Laboratory Compliance Manager. For more hot topics relating to laboratory services, please visit our store or call us at 1.800.252.1578, ext. 2.