Summary & Overview
CPT 86674: Giardia lamblia Antibody Immunoassay
CPT code 86674 represents a laboratory immunoassay for antibodies to Giardia lamblia, the protozoan responsible for giardiasis. This serological test aids in diagnosing or confirming exposure to Giardia when clinical presentation or other laboratory results suggest parasitic infection. Nationally, accurate coding and understanding of this service are important for lab billing consistency, epidemiologic tracking, and clinical decision support in outpatient and clinical laboratory settings.
Key payers included in this overview are Aetna, Blue Cross Blue Shield, Cigna Health, UnitedHealthcare, and Medicare. The publication outlines payer coverage patterns, common modifier usage, and how the test fits into clinical workflows for suspected giardiasis.
Readers will find a concise clinical context for the assay, the typical site of service where it is performed, and what to expect when billing with CPT code 86674. Where available, the piece summarizes common billing practices and practical notes about service designation. Data not provided in the input — such as specific payer reimbursement rates, associated taxonomies, or linked ICD-10 codes — are noted as unavailable. The content is designed to inform billing staff, laboratory managers, and health policy readers about the code’s purpose and operational setting at a national level.
Billing Code Overview
CPT code 86674 describes an immunoassay performed by a laboratory analyst to detect antibodies to the parasite protozoa Giardia lamblia, the organism that causes giardiasis. The test evaluates a patient’s serum specimen for antibodies indicating current or recent infection.
Service Type: Serology / Infectious disease antibody testing
Typical Site of Service: Clinical laboratory / Outpatient phlebotomy site
Data not available in the input.
Clinical & Coding Specifications
Clinical Context
A patient presents to an outpatient primary care clinic or urgent care with 1–2 weeks of watery, foul-smelling diarrhea, abdominal cramping, bloating, and intermittent low-grade fever after recent travel or daycare exposure. The clinician performs a history and physical, collects a serum specimen and a separate stool sample for ova and parasites if available. The laboratory performs an immunoassay on the serum specimen to detect antibodies to the protozoan parasite Giardia lamblia (86674) to support a diagnosis of giardiasis when stool testing is nondiagnostic or when serologic confirmation is requested for epidemiologic or delayed-presentation cases. Typical workflow: specimen collection and labeling at the clinic or outpatient lab; specimen transport to a reference or hospital laboratory; performance of the immunoassay by a lab technologist; result verification by a laboratory director; result reporting to the ordering provider. Typical sites of service include outpatient clinics, urgent care centers, hospital outpatient laboratories, and reference laboratories. The typical patient scenario includes symptomatic adults or children with prolonged or recurrent diarrhea, suspected community or travel-associated giardiasis, or immunocompromised patients where additional serologic testing may aid diagnosis.
Coding Specifications
| Modifier | Description | When to Use |
|---|---|---|
26 | Professional component | Use when billing only the professional component of a laboratory service (rare for immunoassays billed as lab tests) |