CPT 88311

Across 538,814 services billed by 6,624 providers to 446,097 beneficiaries, Medicare allowed an average of $12.68 per service. That is 1.2 services per beneficiary, so this is a code patients typically receive more than once. The allowed amount is the figure that matters: it is what Medicare and the patient together owe, set by the fee schedule and adjusted for local practice costs. What a provider chose to submit has no bearing on it.

Two different numbers. Allowed is what Medicare actually allowed in that state, which includes the local practice-cost adjustment. Standardized strips that geographic adjustment out of the payment, so it is the column to use when comparing states — a difference there reflects how the code was billed, not what it costs to run a practice locally.

• 88305Pathology examination of tissue$50.75
• 88341Special stained specimen slides to examine tissue$40.33
• 88342Special stained specimen slides to examine tissue$58.61
• 88313Special stained specimen slides to examine tissue including interpreta$43.56
• 88312Special stained specimen slides to identify organisms including interp$75.82
• 88307Pathology examination of tissue$84.93
• 88304Pathology examination of tissue$21.25
• 88360Microscopic genetic analysis of tumor$59.67
• 88331Pathology examination of specimen during surgery$72.30
• 88350Antibody evaluation$59.99
• 88344Special stained specimen slides to examine tissue$100.56
• 88374Microscopic genetic analysis of tissue$108.04

An allowed amount is revenue to a practice, not income to a clinician. It funds staff, premises, equipment and supplies before anyone is paid. What clinicians actually earn is published separately by the Department of Labor, and what industry pays them is published separately again by CMS — this site carries both.

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