Culture, Environmental Surveillance

Test Code

4479

CPT Codes
Limited Access Code

Includes

An additional charge will be added for each identification

Preferred Specimen

1 swab collected in an Amies liquid transport swab, Amies gel transport swab, Amies liquid elution swab (ESwab) or equivalent

Minimum Volume

1 swab

Instructions

Use swab to sample environmental surface of interest. Indicate the organism to be ruled out.

Transport Temperature

Room temperature

Specimen Stability

Room temperature: 48 hours
Refrigerated: 48 hours
Frozen: Unacceptable

Reject Criteria (Eg, hemolysis? Lipemia? Thaw/Other?)

Water • Submitted from a non-hospital client • Swabs for sterility testing • Swabs of medical devices (ex. endoscopes) • If no "rule out" organism provided

Methodology
Bacterial culture, aerobic includes use of routine isolation and identification procedures

Setup Schedule

Set up: Daily; Report available: 5 days

Reference Range

Not isolated

Clinical Significance

Varies with isolate. Useful for determining the source of a nosocomial infection.

The CPT Codes provided in this document are based on AMA guidelines and are for informational purposes only. CPT coding is the sole responsibility of the billing party. Please direct any questions regarding coding to the payor being billed. Any Profile/panel component may be ordered separately. Reflex tests are performed at an additional charge.