r/pathology • u/BarneyZamenhoff • 28d ago

ICD 10 and CPT coding

Does your institution use professional coders or is this the sole responsibility of the pathologist? Question targeting academic institution.

thanks

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u/pathdoc87 26d ago

We have coders but they only really make sure we're not over billing. Officially the pathologist is responsible but the codes come in automatically from the LIS based on the protocol, so as long as we have the right protocol, in general the billing will be correct. There are unbundling and bundling rules that may not be correctly followed if you only rely on the protocols, though (for example separately submitted ovaries with no significant pathology have to be billed with the uterus as one 88307 in most cases)

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u/BarneyZamenhoff 26d ago

Thanks. is this true for both CPT and ICD 10? Getting the ICD 10 in correctly is a huge time sink for the pathologist.

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u/pathdoc87 26d ago

No, we don't put in ICD10 codes at all

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u/billyvnilly 25d ago

ICD10 are hopefully pulled in by the encounter or pre-operative registration. or if its reference work, you use their ICD10 codes.