Summary & Overview
CPT 80179: Quantitative Salicylate (Aspirin) Serum Assay
CPT code 80179 represents a quantitative laboratory test to measure salicylate (aspirin) concentration in patient specimens, most commonly serum. This code captures the technical component of salicylate testing performed by a laboratory analyst and is relevant nationally for acute care, emergency medicine, toxicology screening, and therapeutic monitoring. Salicylate testing is used to identify overdose, guide clinical management, and monitor levels in patients with suspected toxicity.
Key payers in the national landscape include Aetna, Blue Cross Blue Shield, Cigna Health, UnitedHealthcare, and Medicare. Readers will find a concise clinical context for the test, typical sites of service, and which payers commonly reimburse for laboratory toxicology services. The publication also outlines common billing modifiers, although details about specific payer coverage policies and rate benchmarks are covered elsewhere.
This summary provides clinicians, laboratory billing staff, and policy analysts with the essential definition and utility of CPT code 80179, the primary clinical scenarios where the test is ordered, and what to expect in terms of service setting. Data not available in the input includes payer-specific coverage rules, reimbursement rates, and associated ICD-10 diagnoses.
Billing Code Overview
CPT code 80179 describes a laboratory assay in which a lab analyst performs the technical testing to quantify salicylate (aspirin) levels in a patient specimen, typically serum. This service is a clinical chemistry/toxicology test used to assess salicylate exposure or toxicity.
Service type: Quantitative laboratory test (toxicology/clinical chemistry)
Typical site of service: Clinical laboratory or hospital laboratory, where specimens such as serum are processed and analyzed.
Clinical & Coding Specifications
Clinical Context
A 28-year-old adult presents to the emergency department after ingesting a large number of aspirin tablets in a suicide attempt. The patient is tachypneic with tinnitus and mixed metabolic acidosis and respiratory alkalosis on arterial blood gas. A serum specimen is collected by the ED phlebotomist and sent to the hospital clinical chemistry laboratory. The laboratory technologist performs a quantitative salicylate assay to measure serum salicylate concentration and returns the numeric result to the treating team for toxicity assessment and management decisions such as activated charcoal, alkalinization, or hemodialysis. Typical site of service is an acute care hospital laboratory or an outpatient hospital-based laboratory performing emergency or routine toxicology testing. The service type is a quantitative therapeutic drug level/toxicology assay performed by the clinical laboratory's technical staff.
Coding Specifications
| Modifier | Description | When to Use |
|---|---|---|
26 | Professional component | Use when billing only the physician interpretation/reporting portion of a test (rare for quantitative chemistry assays). |
TC | Technical component | Use when billing only the laboratory technical component (common when the lab performs the assay). |