CPT 87073 Anaerobic Culture Reimbursement

CPT code 87073 represents an anaerobic culture of clinical material from sources other than urine, blood, or stool, with presumptive identification and quantitation of clinically significant bacteria. This laboratory diagnostic microbiology code matters nationally because anaerobic organisms can drive complex infections, influence antimicrobial selection, and affect hospital length of stay and infection control practices. Accurate coding ensures clinical clarity and appropriate laboratory billing.

Key payers referenced in this analysis include Aetna, Blue Cross Blue Shield, Cigna Health, UnitedHealthcare, and Medicare. Readers will find an overview of the clinical context for anaerobic cultures, common sites of service, and typical laboratory workflows tied to this code. The publication also summarizes benchmark considerations and recent policy updates affecting laboratory billing for microbiology services at a national level.

This summary equips laboratory managers, coding professionals, and policy analysts with a concise reference to the service represented by CPT code 87073, the relevance to patient care pathways, and the payer landscape addressed in the full publication. Data not available in the input is noted where applicable in detailed sections.

Billing Code Overview

CPT code 87073 describes an anaerobic culture performed by a laboratory analyst using clinical material from any source except urine, blood, or stool. The procedure includes presumptive identification and quantitation of clinically significant isolated bacteria, supporting diagnosis and guiding antimicrobial therapy.

Service Type: Laboratory diagnostic microbiology service

Typical Site of Service: Clinical laboratory or hospital laboratory; specimens originate from non-urine, non-blood, non-stool sources such as wound, tissue, respiratory, or surgical site specimens.

Clinical Context

A 56-year-old patient presents to the outpatient wound clinic with a non-healing deep soft-tissue abscess of the lower leg after a traumatic laceration. The clinician obtains a deep wound aspiration sample and sends it to the microbiology laboratory for anaerobic culture because the wound is foul-smelling and there is concern for mixed anaerobic and aerobic infection. In the clinical workflow the specimen is collected at the ambulatory site, transported to the hospital microbiology lab under anaerobic conditions, logged by the lab accessioning team, plated to appropriate anaerobic media, incubated in an anaerobic environment, and examined by a microbiology technologist or laboratory analyst. The laboratory performs growth assessment, presumptive identification and quantitative reporting of clinically significant anaerobic isolates; results are reported to the ordering provider and documented in the electronic medical record to guide targeted antibiotic therapy and potential surgical management. Typical site of service: hospital outpatient laboratory or independent clinical laboratory. Service type: microbiology laboratory diagnostic procedure — anaerobic culture of non-urine, non-blood, non-stool specimen (87073).

Coding Specifications

Modifier	Description	When to Use
`26`	Professional component	Use when reporting only the professional component of the test (interpretation) separated from the technical component.

Taxonomy Code	Specialty	Notes
207RH0000X	Pathology	Clinical pathologists oversee and interpret microbiology testing and result reporting.
207LP2900X	Laboratory Director	Laboratory medicine specialists/directors responsible for laboratory operations and test validation.
208000000X	Infectious Disease	Infectious disease physicians frequently order and interpret anaerobic cultures for complex infections.
2086S0128X	General Surgery	Surgeons commonly obtain deep wound and abscess specimens that require anaerobic culture.
207K00000X	Clinical Microbiology	Microbiologists and medical technologists perform the culture, identification, and quantitation steps.

Related Diagnoses

ICD-10 Code	Description	Clinical Relevance
`L02.91`	Cutaneous abscess, unspecified site	Common source of deep wound specimens sent for anaerobic culture when purulent material is obtained.
`L08.9`	Local infection of skin and subcutaneous tissue, unspecified	Represents cellulitis or local soft tissue infection where anaerobic organisms may be present.
`T81.4XXA`	Infection following a procedure, initial encounter	Post-procedural wound infections often require anaerobic culture to identify causative organisms.
`K65.0`	Acute peritonitis	Intra-abdominal infections commonly involve anaerobes; specimens from peritoneal fluid may be cultured anaerobically.
`J85.1`	Abscess of lung and mediastinum	Pulmonary abscesses can contain anaerobic flora; aspirates may be submitted for `87073` when stool, blood and urine are excluded.

Related CPT Codes

CPT Code	Description	Relationship to This Procedure
`87070`	Culture, bacterial; quantitative colony count, aerobic	Performed when aerobic organisms are suspected in wound or tissue specimens; often run in parallel with anaerobic cultures to provide complete bacterial profile.
`87075`	Culture, bacterial; anaerobic isolate, identification	Performed when an isolated anaerobic organism requires additional confirmatory identification methods beyond presumptive ID — follows initial `87073` growth and presumptive reporting.
`87205`	Direct smears, Gram or fluorescent stain, including interpretation; bacteria	A Gram stain is commonly performed on the specimen prior to culture to provide immediate information about organism morphology and guide initial therapy.
`87081`	Culture, bacterial; urine, quantitative, colony count	Not for this specimen type, listed here as a commonly used culture code for urinary testing when urine is the specimen; distinct from `87073` which excludes urine.
`87481`	Infectious agent detection by nucleic acid; Clostridium difficile, single step	Molecular testing codes may be used subsequently when specific anaerobic pathogens require rapid, targeted detection beyond culture for clinical management.

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Summary & Overview

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