CPT 88314: Frozen Tissue Histochemical Special Stain, Interpretation
Medicare pays $57 and commercial payers pay $69 on average nationally for this procedure.
CPT code 88314 describes the technical performance and interpretation/report of a histochemical special stain performed on a frozen surgical pathology tissue block; this service is a special stain with interpretation typically provided by anatomic pathology laboratory staff as part of intraoperative frozen section processing and is usually performed in a hospital or surgical pathology laboratory setting.
For related coverage guidance, see recent payer policy updates: Destruction of Pre-Malignant Skin Lesions, Onychomycosis diagnostic testing and coverage, Treatment of Capillary Malformations (Port Wine Stains).
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National Reimbursement Benchmarks
Nationally, Medicare’s mean allowable of $56.90 sits slightly below the BUCA commercial average of $69.50, indicating commercial contracts captured by BUCA tend to pay meaningfully more than Medicare for CPT 88314 on average. The gap of $12.60 between Medicare and BUCA highlights where commercial reimbursements exceed the federal program, while median values for several commercial plans cluster near the mid-$50s to $70s range.
Dispersion measured as the interquartile range (P75 minus P25) varies by payer: Blue Cross Blue Shield shows the widest IQR at $48.3, followed by Cigna ($61.0? wait cannot invent) — must compute correctly. Oops need compute each IQR from appendix. Compute: Aetna p75 74.09 - p25 23 = 51.09. BCBS 99.3-46.5=52.8. BUCA 91.5-38.6=52.9. Cigna 91-28.4=62.6. United 78.7-32.6=46.1. Medicare 80-19=61. So widest Cigna $62.60, narrowest UnitedHealth Group $46.10. Compose paragraph accordingly.