The AMA has released details on the 13 digital pathology codes that will go live on January 1, 2023. These codes report additional clinical staff work and service requirements associated with digitizing glass microscope slides for primary diagnosis. The new add-on codes apply to the technical preparation of the slides, and they will not be reported on the professional component side.
Category III codes are a set of codes for emerging technologies, services, procedures, and service paradigms, primarily used for data collection. As digital pathology practice becomes more common, these codes will help identify a shift toward digital use in the lab. They are not yet payable, but widespread use of the codes will demonstrate need and increase the likelihood they will be converted into Category I (payable) CPT® charges.
Remember that add-on codes are used in addition to a primary CPT only.
Any clients using digital pathology slides will add these charges only if they are billing the TC portion. Please see below PDF for a listing of add-on codes.
*Code 88361 is not included in this list as digital pathology preparation is intrinsically included in the code descriptor: Morphometric analysis, tumor immunohistochemistry (eg, Her-2/neu, estrogen receptor/progesterone receptor), quantitative or semi-quantitative, per specimen, each single antibody stain procedure; using computer-assisted technology.
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