CPC Exam Dumps : Certified Professional Coder (CPC) Exam

1. Procedure and CPT® Code Selection:

The test ordered is a bile acid quantitation using an enzymatic method. This test measures the total bile acids in a patient with chronic hepatitis.

CPT® Code 82248 is specific for quantitation of bile acids, total, which is the correct code for a bile acid test using any method, including enzymatic.

2. Rationale for Excluding Other Options:

Code 82247 is used for the measurement of bilirubin, not bile acids, making it inappropriate for this test.

Code 82239 is for measuring an amino acid (gamma-glutamyl transferase), which is unrelated to bile acid quantitation.

Code 82252 is for a fecal bile acid screening, which is different from a quantitation of bile acids in serum or plasma.

3. AAPC and CPT® Coding Guidelines:

According to AAPC guidelines, 82248 should be selected for total bile acid quantitation regardless of the specific analytical method used.

Therefore, the correct answer is A. 82248.

Frozen section pathology coding rules:

88331 – Frozen section, first tissue block, each specimen

88332 – Frozen section, each additional tissue block, same specimen

Breakdown:

Specimen 1

Block 1 → 88331 × 1

Block 2 → 88332 × 1

Specimen 2

Block 1 → 88331 × 1

Block 2 → 88332 × 1

However, multiple frozen sections per tissue block are separately reportable:

Total first blocks = 4 frozen sections → 88331 × 4

Total additional blocks = 3 frozen sections → 88332 × 3

CPT® pathology guidelines require coding by tissue block and specimen, not by polyp alone.