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CPT 82533: Total Cortisol Laboratory Test
CPT code 82533 represents a laboratory assay that measures total cortisol in a patient specimen, a key test for assessing adrenal function and disorders of cortisol excess or deficiency. Nationally, cortisol testing informs diagnoses such as adrenal insufficiency, Cushing’s syndrome, and monitoring of patients exposed to agents that may affect adrenal function. The code applies to clinical laboratory services performed in hospital or independent laboratory settings and is commonly ordered by primary care, internal medicine, and endocrinology clinicians.
Key payers covered in this analysis include Aetna, Blue Cross Blue Shield, Cigna Health, UnitedHealthcare, and Medicare. Readers will find practical information on clinical context, related laboratory codes, and typical sites of service. The publication outlines benchmarking elements relevant to lab service utilization and billing for cortisol testing, summarizes associated ICD-10 diagnoses that commonly justify testing, and highlights coding relationships with related chemistry and toxicology panels.
This overview provides clinicians, billing professionals, and policy analysts with a concise reference to the clinical purpose of CPT code 82533, expectations for laboratory service delivery, and the payer landscape relevant to national billing and coverage practices.
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Billing Code Overview
CPT code 82533 describes a laboratory measurement of total cortisol in a patient specimen. Cortisol is a steroid hormone produced by the adrenal glands and is commonly measured to evaluate adrenal function, stress response, and disorders of cortisol excess or deficiency.
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Service type: Clinical laboratory testing of serum or plasma cortisol levels
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Typical site of service: Clinical laboratory or hospital laboratory setting
National Reimbursement Benchmarks
Across national commercial payers, BUCA’s average commercial rate of $42.2 sits near the mid-to-upper range of observed means and offers a useful reference for market-level pricing on CPT 82533. Blue Cross Blue Shield has the highest mean at $60.8 and also shows substantial spread between the 25th and 75th percentiles ($73.30 - $50.40 = $22.90), indicating wider variation in contract rates. Aetna and Cigna present lower means ($20.7 and $17.2 respectively) with Aetna’s interquartile spread of $21.40 - $12.00 = $9.40 and Cigna’s spread of $23.20 - $9.10 = $14.10, suggesting Cigna has more dispersion than Aetna despite similar medians.
UnitedHealth Group shows a relatively tight interquartile spread of $16.30 - $7.30 = $9.00, the narrowest among the listed payers, implying more consistent contracted rates around its median of $9.80. Overall dispersion varies materially: Blue Cross Blue Shield exhibits the widest IQR at $22.90, followed by Cigna at $14.10, while UnitedHealth Group and Aetna are the tightest at $9.00 and $9.40 respectively, with BUCA’s mean of $42.2 providing an average commercial benchmark.