General Question for the Week of February 17, 2025

Question:

I’m coding for a patient who underwent CAR-T therapy, and I’m a bit confused about how to report the different steps. I understand that 0537T is for collection and handling, and 0540T is for administration, but I want to clarify a few things. Can we report 0537T more than once per day? Also, if the hospital is facilitating the process but not actually performing the collection or preparation, should the hospital still report any of these codes, or are they strictly for the specialty lab or manufacturer?

Answer:

Codes 0537T, 0538T, 0539T, 0540T describe the various steps required to collect, prepare, transport, receive, and administer genetically modified T cells. The collection and handling code (0537T) may be reported only once per day, regardless of the number of collections or quantity of cells collected. Similarly, the administration code (0540T) may only be reported once per day, regardless of the number of units administered. The development of genetically modified cells is not reported with this family of codes. The services described by codes 0537T, 0538T, and 0539T are not performed by a hospital, but rather by a specialty lab or manufacturer that is contracted to prepare the individual CAR-T doses.

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