Summary & Overview
CPT 0311U: Accelerate PhenoTest BC Kit, Rapid AST (MIC)
CPT code 0311U designates the Accelerate PhenoTest® BC kit AST configuration, a proprietary laboratory assay that produces rapid antimicrobial susceptibility testing (AST) reported as minimum inhibitory concentrations (MIC) for positive blood cultures. Its PLA status means the code is restricted to a single manufacturer’s test, reflecting advanced diagnostic capability for timely guidance on antimicrobial therapy. Nationally, rapid AST platforms like this influence hospital antimicrobial stewardship, sepsis management, and laboratory workflows by shortening time to targeted therapy.
Key payers covered in this overview include Aetna, Blue Cross Blue Shield, Cigna Health, UnitedHealthcare, and Medicare. Readers will find a concise review of the code’s clinical purpose and service setting, coverage context across major national payers, and the types of analysis typically provided alongside PLA codes: billing benchmarks, coding guidance considerations, and clinical context for use in bloodstream infection management. The publication summarizes payer coverage patterns and common modifiers used with laboratory PLA codes, highlights where policy updates may affect reimbursement and documentation, and outlines the operational implications for hospital and reference laboratories. Data not available in the input will be identified as such when relevant.
Billing Code Overview
CPT code 0311U is a Proprietary Laboratory Analyses (PLA) code that applies specifically to the Accelerate PhenoTest® BC kit, AST configuration from Accelerate Diagnostics Inc. The code reports rapid antimicrobial susceptibility testing (AST) results expressed as minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) values for organisms detected in positive blood cultures. MIC denotes the lowest concentration of an antimicrobial agent that inhibits microorganism growth.
Service type: Laboratory diagnostic test — rapid antimicrobial susceptibility testing (AST)
Typical site of service: Clinical laboratory processing positive blood cultures
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Clinical & Coding Specifications
Clinical Context
A hospitalized adult patient presents with fever, hypotension, and signs of sepsis. Blood cultures obtained from peripheral venipuncture and from the patient’s central venous catheter become positive for Gram-negative bacilli on culture. The hospital laboratory performs rapid organism identification with an existing platform (for example, MALDI-TOF or a molecular blood culture ID system) and needs rapid phenotypic antimicrobial susceptibility results reported as minimum inhibitory concentrations (MICs) to guide timely antimicrobial stewardship and targeted therapy. The laboratory uses the Accelerate PhenoTest® BC kit in the AST configuration to generate MIC values directly from the positive blood culture. The clinical workflow includes: initial blood culture incubation and detection, rapid organism identification on the existing ID system, performance of the Accelerate PhenoTest® BC kit AST run (reportable under CPT 0311U), verification of results by clinical microbiology staff, and timely electronic reporting of MICs to the treating clinical team for antibiotic selection. Typical site of service is an acute care hospital clinical laboratory or independent clinical laboratory performing inpatient infectious disease testing.
Coding Specifications
| Modifier | Description | When to Use |
|---|---|---|
00 | Standard professional and technical components bundled | Use when no separate component reporting is needed; general default reporting behavior. |