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    v1.0.30
    OpenPayerBilling CodesMicrobiology Culture and Typing ProceduresCPT cpt-87075-anaerobic-culture-identification-non-blood-specimen
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    CPT 87075: Anaerobic Culture and Bacterial Identification (Nonblood)

    Commercial payers pay $42 on average nationally for this procedure.

    CPT code 87075 describes an anaerobic culture with identification performed by a lab analyst using material from any source except blood; the service involves culturing anaerobic organisms and identifying isolated bacteria to the least specific level (for example, genus) and is typically provided as a clinical laboratory microbiology service in hospital laboratories, clinical reference labs, or outpatient lab settings.

    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

    Commercial rates for CPT 87075 center around BUCA’s average commercial benchmark of $41.80, with notable variation across major payers. Blue Cross Blue Shield’s distribution is the most dispersed (P75–P25 = $61.20), reflecting a wide spread between lower and higher allowed amounts; Aetna and Cigna show moderate dispersion (Aetna range = $4.00, Cigna range = $8.10), while UnitedHealth Group displays a relatively tight distribution (range = $5.30). These differences indicate meaningful payer-by-payer negotiation and regional variability in allowed amounts.

    Examining central tendency, Blue Cross Blue Shield’s median sits well above the BUCA mean, while Cigna, Aetna, and UnitedHealth Group medians are below or near BUCA’s average, highlighting that BUCA’s $41.80 average aligns more closely with mid-to-higher commercial pricing overall. Range comparisons (largest: Blue Cross Blue Shield $61.20; smallest: Aetna $4.00) emphasize which payers exhibit the greatest and least rate dispersion for this code.

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    National Payer Mean Reimbursement Rates

    State Reimbursement Rates

    State: Alaska1 / 51

    Rate by payer

    Clinical & Coding Specifications

    Clinical Context

    A 42-year-old outpatient presents to the urgent care clinic with a painful, fluctuant right axillary skin lesion after minor trauma. The clinician performs incision and drainage, collects a wound swab and anaerobic transport media, and sends the specimen to the clinical laboratory for anaerobic culture and organism identification. The laboratory processes the specimen using anaerobic culture techniques, incubates on appropriate media, and reports growth and identification at the genus level or more specific when available. Results guide targeted antibiotic therapy in the context of diagnoses such as L02.91 (cutaneous abscess), suspected polymicrobial infections, or when anaerobic involvement is suspected in deep tissue or aspiration-related infections. Typical sites of service include outpatient clinics, urgent care centers, hospital outpatient laboratories, and reference clinical microbiology laboratories. The service type is a clinical microbiology laboratory procedure: an anaerobic culture with identification of isolated bacteria from non-blood sources.

    Related CPT Codes

    CPT CodeDescriptionRelationship to This Procedure
    87073Culture bacteria anaerobicPerforms anaerobic culture setup; may be billed for initial culture processing complementary to identification.

    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…
    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…
    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…
    62Modifier 62 indicates that two surgeons function as co‑surgeons, each performing distinct parts of the same primary surgical procedure. It is appended to the primary procedure code (and any…- Use modifier -62 when two surgeons act as co‑surgeons (both primary surgeons) on a single definitive primary procedure, each performing distinct parts of the same surgical procedure (append -62 to…
    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…
    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…

    Related Provider Taxonomies

    8 rows

    Taxonomy Code
    291U00000X
    207ZP0102X
    207Q00000X
    208000000X
    246Q00000X
    163WI0600X
    335G00000X
    1744R1102X

    Related ICD-10-CM Codes

    29 rows

    ICD-10-CM CodeDescription
    A30.9Leprosy, unspecified
    A41.9Sepsis, unspecified organism
    A48.1Legionnaires' disease
    A49.9Bacterial infection, unspecified
    A52.9Late syphilis, unspecified
    A54.89Other gonococcal infections
    B95.61Methicillin susceptible Staphylococcus aureus infection as the cause of diseases classified elsewhere
    B96.0Mycoplasma pneumoniae [M. pneumoniae] as the cause of diseases classified elsewhere
    G06.0Intracranial abscess and granuloma
    H66.90Otitis media, unspecified, unspecified ear

    Showing 1–10 of 29

    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-87045-AEROBIC-BACTERIAL-STOOL-CULTURE-SALMONELLA-SHIGELLA

    CPT 87045: Aerobic Bacterial Stool Culture for Salmonella/Shigella

    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-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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    Trek Health ingests and normalizes Transparency in Coverage data and payer policy updates to give provider organizations a clear view of how commercial reimbursement behaves across markets, payers, and services. Our platform transforms raw payer disclosures into structured intelligence that supports contract evaluation, payer negotiations, and service line strategy. By combining market benchmarks with ongoing policy visibility, Trek helps teams identify variability, risk, and opportunity in commercial reimbursement. The result is faster insight, stronger negotiating positions, and more informed financial decisions.

    87076
    Culture anaerobe ident, each
    Billed per organism when anaerobic isolates are identified to a more specific level; complements 87075 when multiple isolates are identified.
    87077Culture aerobic identifyUsed when aerobic bacterial identification is performed alongside anaerobic culture for comprehensive workup.
    87081Culture screen onlyUsed when the laboratory performs screening cultures without full identification; may precede or substitute for 87075 depending on clinical need.