[Histonet] Re: TWO SPECIMENS IN ONE CONTAINER

[RSRICHMOND <@t> aol.com]

Dana Dittus asks the old, eternally confusing question about what to do with 
two specimens in the same container.

If it's possible to tell which specimen is which, it's two specimens, and the 
case will get two CPT codes (thus tube segments would be 88302 x2, or two 
skin bumps would be 88305 x2. One of the tube segments might be marked with a 
suture, or one of the skin bumps might be described by the submitting surgeon as 
larger than the other, or three skin bumps might be strung on a needle with 
the note that the one closest to the needle hub is from the left elbow, the one 
in the middle is from the right ankle, and the one closest to the point of the 
needle is from the ol' wazoo. (I've seen all of these methods used.) 

If there is no way to tell the specimens apart, then only a single CPT code 
can be used. It doesn't matter whether the specimen is embedded with one 
cassette or two, as long as the specimens can be told apart (say by inking one of 
them).

(This is how it's done in the USA - other countries could have wholly 
different rules.)

Bob Richmond
Samurai Pathologist

P.S. The ol' Samurai Pathologist has a FULL TIME JOB in Gastonia NC (west of 
Charlotte) with a group of five pathologists at a 450 bed hospital. Superb 
histology and other laboratory services. - Same e-mail address and all.