Clinical Context
A sexually active adult or adolescent presents to an outpatient clinic, urgent care, sexual health clinic, or emergency department with genitourinary or sexual exposure concerns such as vaginal discharge, dysuria, pelvic pain, urethral discharge, rectal pain, or recent condomless oral/anal sex. The clinician performs a focused sexual health history and physical exam and collects specimens appropriate to exposure and symptoms: vaginal or endocervical swab for people with a cervix, oropharyngeal swab for oral exposure, rectal swab for receptive anal exposure, and/or first-catch urine for people without cervical sampling. The specimen(s) are sent to the performing laboratory using standard transport and chain-of-custody procedures for nucleic acid amplification testing (NAAT). The laboratory runs the Abbott Alinity™ m STI Assay — reported with CPT code 0455U — which multiplexes amplified probes to detect Chlamydia trachomatis, Neisseria gonorrhoeae, and Trichomonas vaginalis. Results are reported back to the ordering clinician, who documents results, notifies the patient, and proceeds with treatment, partner notification, or further testing as indicated. Typical sites of service include outpatient clinics, community sexual health centers, urgent care centers, and hospital laboratories; the service type is laboratory diagnostic testing (Proprietary Laboratory Analyses).
Related CPT Codes
| CPT Code | Description | Relationship to This Procedure |
|---|
87491 | Infectious agent detection by nucleic acid (DNA or RNA); Chlamydia trachomatis, amplified probe technique, direct probe technique, single target | Historically used for single-target Chlamydia testing; may be ordered if multiplex testing unavailable or for confirmatory single-organism testing |
87591 | Infectious agent detection by nucleic acid (DNA or RNA); Neisseria gonorrhoeae, amplified probe technique, direct probe technique, single target | Single-organism gonorrhea NAAT used when multiplex NAAT not performed or for follow-up
87798 | Infectious agent detection by nucleic acid (DNA or RNA), multiple organisms (e.g., multiplex panels) | Related multiplex testing codes; used for broader panels that may include other organisms beyond CT/GC/TV when different platform or non-proprietary tests are performed
86580 | Skin test; tuberculosis, intradermal | Often performed in parallel in sexual health evaluations for high-risk populations or when additional screening is indicated
87660 | Infectious agent detection by nucleic acid (DNA or RNA); Trichomonas vaginalis, amplified probe technique | Single-organism NAAT for Trichomonas when ordered separately from multiplex testing