CPT 0382U: Phenylalanine and Tyrosine, Self-Collect Blood Spot

Headline: New PLA Test Code 0382U Marks a Specific Mayo Clinic Home-Collection Assay for Phenylalanine and Tyrosine

Lead: CPT code 0382U designates a proprietary Mayo Clinic laboratory assay that measures phenylalanine and tyrosine from a patient-collected blood spot using LC–MS/MS. The code identifies a single-manufacturer test and standardizes reporting for payers, clinicians, and laboratories.

What this code represents and why it matters: CPT code 0382U is a PLA code tied to one unique test for phenylalanine and tyrosine performed on a self-collected blood spot specimen. PLA coding clarifies billing and supports payer adjudication for novel or proprietary assays, which matters nationally as laboratories expand direct-to-patient and remote collection offerings.

Key payers covered: Analysis includes major national payers: Aetna, Blue Cross Blue Shield, Cigna, UnitedHealthcare, and Medicare.

What readers will learn: The publication provides clinical context for phenylalanine and tyrosine testing, explains service and site-of-service implications for home collection with central laboratory processing, and outlines payer coverage considerations and billing elements relevant to a PLA-coded test. Benchmarks, policy updates, and comparative reimbursement trends are reviewed where available. Practical details include typical claim presentation and administrative elements needed for adjudication.

Scope: This is a national overview focused on coding, clinical purpose, and payer relevance for a proprietary LC–MS/MS blood spot assay originating from Mayo Clinic. Data not available in the input is noted as unavailable in the detailed sections.

Billing Code Overview

CPT code 0382U is a Proprietary Laboratory Analyses (PLA) code for a specific laboratory test offered by Mayo Clinic. Report 0382U only for Phenylalanine and Tyrosine, SelfCollect, Blood Spot, from Mayo Clinic. The test evaluates a patient-collected blood spot specimen for levels of phenylalanine and tyrosine using liquid chromatography with tandem mass spectrometry (LC–MS/MS).

Service Type: Laboratory — specialty chemistry, metabolite quantification (phenylalanine and tyrosine)

Typical Site of Service: Patient self-collection at home with laboratory analysis at Mayo Clinic (remote collection; clinical laboratory processing)

Clinical Context

A typical patient scenario involves an adult or pediatric patient who requires metabolic monitoring for disorders affecting aromatic amino acid metabolism or to assess nutritional status following dietary changes or therapy. The patient receives a self-collection kit from Mayo Clinic for a Phenylalanine and Tyrosine, SelfCollect, Blood Spot test. The workflow: a clinician (primary care physician, metabolic specialist, or geneticist) orders test code 0382U; the laboratory ships a fingerstick blood spot collection kit with instructions; the patient obtains capillary blood spots at home, allows the spots to dry, and returns the specimen to the Mayo Clinic laboratory per the kit instructions; the lab performs liquid chromatography with tandem mass spectrometry (LC–MS/MS) to quantify phenylalanine and tyrosine concentrations; the laboratory reports results to the ordering clinician who interprets the values in the context of phenylketonuria (PKU) management, tyrosinemia screening or monitoring, dietary therapy effectiveness, or medication effects. Typical site of service is outpatient or home-based specimen collection with laboratory testing performed at the Mayo Clinic reference laboratory. The service type is a Proprietary Laboratory Analysis (PLA) for a single-manufacturer/single-lab assay.

Coding Specifications

Modifier	Description	When to Use
`26`	Professional component

Taxonomy Code	Specialty	Notes
`207Q00000X`	Family Medicine	Primary care clinicians who order metabolic or nutritional monitoring tests.
`207L00000X`	Internal Medicine	Internists managing adult metabolic or nutrition follow-up who order this assay.
`207P00000X`	Pediatrics	Pediatricians who monitor newborns or children for PKU, tyrosinemia, or amino acid disorders and coordinate home collection.
`2080P0002X`	Medical Genetics	Geneticists and metabolic specialists who use quantitative amino acid testing for diagnosis and management.
`1223G0001X`	Clinical Laboratory Director	Laboratory professionals responsible for test performance, interpretation, and reporting at the reference lab.

Related Diagnoses

ICD-10 Code	Description	Clinical Relevance
`E70.0`	Classic phenylketonuria (PKU)	Directly relevant: monitoring phenylalanine levels to guide dietary therapy and prevent neurotoxic effects.
`E70.2`	Tyrosinemia	Directly relevant: measuring tyrosine to diagnose and monitor tyrosinemia and treatment response.
`E70.8`	Other disorders of aromatic amino-acid metabolism	Relevant for less common enzymatic defects affecting phenylalanine or tyrosine metabolism.
`E70.9`	Disorder of aromatic amino-acid metabolism, unspecified	Used when a specific amino acid metabolic disorder is suspected but not yet specified.
`R79.89`	Other abnormalities of blood chemistry	Relevant when isolated abnormal amino acid concentrations are being investigated as part of broader metabolic assessment.

Related CPT Codes

CPT Code	Description	Relationship to This Procedure
`80055`	Special chemistry, other therapeutic drug assays, multiple analyses if applicable (example grouping)	May be ordered in panels when additional serum or plasma amino acids or metabolic markers are required alongside the dried blood spot amino acid quantification.
`83890`	Assay of amino acids, quantitative, each	Related analytic methodology code for amino acid quantitation; used in some workflows when itemized analyte billing is required instead of PLA coding.
`36415`	Routine venipuncture; collection of venous blood by venipuncture	Performed when a venous specimen is required instead of or in addition to the patient-collected blood spot.
`99000`	Handling and/or conveyance of specimen for transfer from patient to laboratory	Used when special handling or courier services are separately billable for specimen transport to the reference lab.
`99001`	Collection and handling of specimen, home collection (example local code)	Represents non-CPT home collection services that may be billed or documented when a clinical service supports patient self-collection; actual billing depends on payer.

OpenPayer

Summary & Overview