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    v1.0.30
    OpenPayerBilling CodesMicrobiology Culture and Typing ProceduresCPT cpt-87045-aerobic-bacterial-stool-culture-salmonella-shigella
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    CPT 87045: Aerobic Bacterial Stool Culture for Salmonella/Shigella

    Commercial payers pay $30 on average nationally for this procedure.

    CPT code 87045 describes an aerobic bacterial stool culture in which the laboratory analyst inoculates selective media, isolates potential bacterial pathogens, and performs a preliminary examination to identify the presence of Salmonella or Shigella species; the service is a microbiology culture and identification procedure typically performed in a clinical laboratory setting (hospital or outpatient lab) on stool specimens from patients with suspected infectious gastroenteritis or diarrheal illness.

    For related coverage guidance, see recent payer policy updates: Long-Acting Injectable Antiretroviral Agents for HIV, B-Hemolytic Streptococcus Testing, Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) — Coverage Criteria for Testing and Resistance Assays.

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    National Reimbursement Benchmarks

    National commercial reimbursement for CPT 87045 centers around BUCA’s average commercial benchmark of $30.00, with individual commercial payers showing meaningful differences in central tendency. Blue Cross Blue Shield’s median sits notably higher than most peers at $37.30, while Cigna and Aetna present medians near $8.50 and $7.70 respectively; UnitedHealth Group’s median of $5.70 is on the lower end. These medians indicate that BUCA’s average aligns closer to mid-to-upper commercial levels rather than the lower medians seen with some national insurers.

    Dispersion (P75 minus P25) highlights payer variability: Blue Cross Blue Shield has the widest interquartile spread at $18.30 (P75 $52.00 minus P25 $33.70), indicating greater variability in contracted rates, while UnitedHealth Group is the tightest with a spread of $5.20 (P75 $9.40 minus P25 $4.20). Cigna and Aetna show moderate spreads of $8.30 and $4.00 respectively, and BUCA’s interquartile spread is $10.90 (P75 $34.40 minus P25 $21.50), placing it in the middle of the dispersion range.

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    National Payer Mean Reimbursement Rates

    State Reimbursement Rates

    State: Alaska1 / 51

    Rate by payer

    Clinical & Coding Specifications

    Clinical Context

    A 28-year-old outpatient presents to urgent care with 48 hours of watery diarrhea, abdominal cramping, and low-grade fever after eating at a restaurant. The clinician documents loose stools and orders a stool culture to evaluate for bacterial enteric pathogens. A stool specimen is collected and sent to the clinical microbiology laboratory. The laboratory performs an aerobic bacterial stool culture (CPT 87045), incubates stool on selective and differential media, isolates suspect colonies, and performs preliminary biochemical or serologic testing to determine the presence of Salmonella or Shigella species. Results are reported to the ordering provider, who uses the preliminary identification to guide infection control, public health reporting, and potential empiric therapy pending final identification and susceptibility testing.

    Related CPT Codes

    CPT CodeDescriptionRelationship to This Procedure
    87040Bacterial culture, presumptive identification, blood cultureRelated microbiology culture code; both involve isolation and presumptive identification of bacteria but on different specimen types; may be ordered when systemic infection is suspected.

    Related Modifiers

    8 rows

    ModifierDescriptionWhen to Use
    26Modifier 26 (Professional Component) identifies and bills only the professional portion of a split service — the physician’s interpretation, report, and medical judgment — when the technical…- Use CPT Modifier -26 when you are billing only the professional component (PC) of a split‑bill eligible service—i.e., you performed the physician interpretation, medical judgment and prepared a…
    59Modifier 59 indicates a distinct procedural service when two procedures that are not normally billed together are clinically and procedurally separate. The CPT definition (as reiterated by CMS)…- Use modifier -59 to report a distinct procedural service when documentation supports that the procedure reported is not normally billed together with another service on the same day because of a…
    90Modifier ‑90 (Reference/Outside Laboratory) indicates that a laboratory test was performed by an entity other than the treating or reporting provider. The American Medical Association defines…- Use CPT modifier -90 when a laboratory test is performed by an outside/reference laboratory (an entity other than the treating or reporting physician or qualified professional) and the claim needs…
    91Modifier 91 — “Repeat Clinical Diagnostic Laboratory Test” — is appended when the exact same CPT laboratory test is performed more than once for the same patient on the same day because serial,…- Use modifier 91 when the exact same CPT laboratory test is performed more than once on the same patient on the same date because serial or repeated testing is medically necessary to monitor…
    52Modifier ‑52 (Reduced Services) indicates that a service or procedure was partially reduced or omitted at the provider’s discretion, allowing reporting of the basic procedure number with a qualifier…- Use modifier -52 when a physician or qualified health professional electively reduces or omits part of a procedure or service (for example, performing fewer required views or omitting a portion of…
    53Modifier 53 (Discontinued Procedure) signals that a surgical or diagnostic service was begun by the physician but terminated because of extenuating circumstances that threatened the patient’s…- Use modifier -53 when a physician/qualified healthcare professional has started a surgical or diagnostic procedure (e.g., anesthesia administered, incision or scope insertion) and then discontinues…
    76Modifier -76, Repeat Procedure or Service by Same Physician or Other Qualified Health Care Professional, is appended when the same provider performs an identical, medically necessary procedure or…- Use modifier -76 when the same physician or other qualified health care professional performs an identical procedure or service a second (or subsequent) time on the same date of service and the…
    78CPT modifier -78 indicates an unplanned, related return to the operating or procedure room by the same provider during the global postoperative period. It is appended when treatment for a…- Use modifier -78 when an unplanned, related complication during the original procedure’s global postoperative period requires the patient to return to a formal operating or procedure room and the…

    Related Provider Taxonomies

    8 rows

    Taxonomy Code
    291U00000X
    207ZP0102X
    207Q00000X
    251T00000X
    243U00000X
    224Z00000X
    193200000X
    208800000X

    Related ICD-10-CM Codes

    5 rows

    ICD-10-CM CodeDescription
    A09Infectious gastroenteritis and colitis, unspecified
    K52.9Noninfective gastroenteritis and colitis, unspecified
    K59.1Functional diarrhea
    A04.9Bacterial intestinal infection, unspecified
    R19.7Diarrhea, unspecified

    Related Payer Policy Updates

    Specialty: Infectious Disease1 / 3

    10 rows

    PolicyPayerEffective Date
    Long-Acting Injectable Antiretroviral Agents for HIVColorado Rocky Mountain Health Plans2026-10-01
    B-Hemolytic Streptococcus TestingOscar Health2026-10-01
    Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) — Coverage Criteria for Testing and Resistance AssaysOscar Health2026-10-01
    Hepatitis Testing (A, B, C, D) Coverage CriteriaOscar Health2026-10-01
    Lyme Disease Testing Coverage CriteriaOscar Health2026-10-01
    Pathogen Panel TestingOscar Health2026-10-01
    Diagnostic Testing of Common Sexually Transmitted InfectionsOscar Health2026-10-01
    Coronavirus Testing in the Outpatient SettingOscar Health2026-10-01
    Testing for Vector-Borne InfectionsOscar Health2026-10-01
    Testing for Diagnosis of Active or Latent TuberculosisOscar Health2026-10-01

    Related Codes

    87086-CULTURE-BACTERIAL-QUANTITATIVE-COLONY-COUNT

    CPT 87086: Urine Culture with Quantitative Colony Count

    CPT-87040-BLOOD-CULTURE-ISOLATION-PRESUMPTIVE-IDENTIFICATION

    CPT 87040: Blood Bacterial Culture with Isolation and Presumptive ID

    CPT-87046-AEROBIC-BACTERIAL-STOOL-CULTURE-PRESUMPTIVE-ID-NON-SALMONELLA-SHIGELLA

    CPT 87046: Aerobic Bacterial Stool Culture, Presumptive ID (non-Salmonella/Shigella)

    CPT-87070-AEROBIC-CULTURE-ISOLATION-PRESUMPTIVE-IDENTIFICATION

    CPT 87070: Aerobic Culture with Isolation and Presumptive Identification

    CPT-87071-AEROBIC-QUANTITATIVE-BACTERIAL-CULTURE-NON-URINE-BLOOD-STOOL

    CPT 87071: Quantitative Aerobic Bacterial Culture, Non-urine/blood/stool

    CPT-87073-ANAEROBIC-CULTURE-NONBLOOD-NONURINE-NONSTOOL

    CPT 87073: Anaerobic Culture, Non-Urine/Blood/Stool

    CPT-87075-ANAEROBIC-CULTURE-IDENTIFICATION-NON-BLOOD-SPECIMEN

    CPT 87075: Anaerobic Culture and Bacterial Identification (Nonblood)

    CPT-87076-ANAEROBIC-ISOLATE-DEFINITIVE-IDENTIFICATION

    CPT 87076: Anaerobic Isolate Identification to Species Level

    CPT-87077-DEFINITIVE-IDENTIFICATION-AEROBIC-ISOLATE

    CPT 87077: Definitive Identification of Aerobic Isolate

    CPT-87081-TARGETED-SINGLE-ORGANISM-CULTURE

    CPT 87081: Selective Culture for Specific Pathogen

    Showing 1–10 of 30

    Frequently Asked Questions

    References

    1. 1.CPT® Codes and Descriptions. AAPC. Retrieved Aug 11, 2026.Maintains the CPT code set's official descriptions and guidelines, licensed from the American Medical Association, used as the definitional source for CPT codes on this page.
    2. 2.HCPCS Quarterly Update. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS). Retrieved Aug 11, 2026.CMS's quarterly release of HCPCS Level II codes and short/long descriptors, the source for HCPCS code definitions and update history.
    3. 3.ICD-10-CM Full Code List. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS). Retrieved Aug 11, 2026.CMS's complete ICD-10-CM diagnosis code list, used to cross-reference diagnosis codes associated with this procedure or service.
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    87046
    Bacterial identification, presumptive, multiple tests (description not provided)
    Related lab identification services that may follow culture growth for further organism identification.
    87070Antimicrobial susceptibility testing (description not provided)Performed after culture growth when clinically indicated to guide targeted antibiotic therapy.
    87075Antimicrobial susceptibility testing by disk, plate method (description not provided)A specific susceptibility method commonly used after stool pathogen isolation.
    87077Antimicrobial susceptibility testing by dilution and MIC (description not provided)Alternative susceptibility testing technique used for certain isolates.
    87081Antimicrobial susceptibility testing, quantitative (description not provided)Additional susceptibility testing code used when detailed quantitation is required.