Clinical Context
A 32-year-old patient presents to an outpatient primary care clinic requesting screening for hepatitis C after disclosing a history of injection drug use and prior incarceration. The clinician reviews risk factors, documents indications for testing, and orders a hepatitis C antibody screen. The specimen is collected via venipuncture in the clinic or a nearby lab. The test is performed by the laboratory; if reactive, reflex confirmatory RNA testing is ordered or the patient is referred for follow-up care and counseling. Documentation includes rationale for screening (high-risk behavior), informed consent, specimen source, and any payer-required screening indication. Typical workflow steps: patient intake and risk assessment, clinician order for G0472, specimen collection, lab processing and result reporting, and follow-up communication for reactive or non-reactive results.
Related CPT Codes
| CPT Code | Description | Relationship to This Procedure |
|---|
36415 | Collection of venous blood by venipuncture | Used to obtain the specimen for the hepatitis C antibody screen when blood draw is performed at the point of care. |
80061 | Lipid panel (cholesterol, HDL, triglycerides) | Often ordered during preventive health visits alongside infectious disease screening in primary care workflows.
87491 | Infectious agent detection by nucleic acid (e.g., hepatitis C virus), qualitative, for RNA, single step (e.g., RT-PCR), direct probe; quantitative or qualitative | Performed as confirmatory testing for a reactive hepatitis C antibody screen to detect HCV RNA.
82550 | Blood, hepatitis C; antibody (EIA) | Alternative CPT-level code for hepatitis C antibody testing that may be used by some laboratories when reporting at CPT rather than HCPCS level.
99406 | Smoking and tobacco use cessation counseling visit, intermediate, greater than 3 minutes up to 10 minutes | Counseling codes that may be billed during the same visit for risk reduction and behavioral counseling when high-risk behaviors are identified.