Look Up Pricing Information

1 Do one of the following:

To display the Order Code Price Inquiry page in your current browser window, in the menu bar, click Utilities > Price Inquiry.

To display the Order Code Price Inquiry page in a separate window or tab, in the information bar, click Tools > Price Inquiry.

Note: These menu items do not appear for contracted phlebotomists. For PSC employees and IOPs, they might not appear for some labs.

2 In the Client list, begin typing the client name or number, and then click the appropriate client in the list.

If you do not know the client name or number, follow these steps:

a Click Search.

b In the Search by area, click the appropriate option button (Name, Number, or Phone).

c In the adjacent box, type a portion of the client’s name, number, or telephone number.

d Click Search.

All clients that match the specified information appear in the search results list, which displays the client number; client name and street address; and telephone number, state, and zip code.

e To select a specific client, click the client in the list.

As soon as you specify a client, that client’s favorite order codes (if any) appear in the Order Codes area.

Note: If the client does not support either the patient or insurance bill type, a message to that effect appears on the page; you cannot obtain pricing information for that client.

3 In the Bill Type list, click the appropriate option.

The available options vary, depending on the client. If the client supports the patient bill type, then Patient appears in this list. If the client supports the insurance bill type, then any carriers that support patient pricing (such as the Uninsured Patient Program, a QuestCares Offering) appear in the list.

4 In the Order Codes area, do one or more of the following to select the order codes (up to the maximum number supported by the lab) for which you want to obtain pricing information:

Select one or more favorite tests. Click the appropriate tab and then select the check box next to each appropriate order code, or click Select All to look up pricing information for all of the listed tests.

The selected order codes and test names appear in the Selected Order Codes area.

If you select a custom profile, all of the individual order codes associated with that profile appear in the Selected Order Codes area. (Custom profiles appear in blue.)

Note: If the tab contains more than the number of order codes allowed, if the number of order codes on the tab and the number of order codes associated with any profiles on the tab exceed the number allowed, or if the number of codes on the tab combined with the already specified codes exceed the number allowed, an error message appears when you click Select All, and none of the codes are added. You can use this feature only if the order codes associated with the tab do not exceed the maximum allowed number of codes.

Specify one or more tests:

a In the Order Codes box, type a complete or partial order code, test name, predefined panel code, or predefined panel name. You can also type a complete custom profile code. (For information about predefined panels and custom profiles, see Managing Custom Profiles.)

To specify multiple codes or names at once, separate the entries with a comma (such as 22061,5617).

By default, the system will search for the specified text only until an exact match is found. For example, if you type 123, the search stops as soon as code 123 is found.

To see a list of all of the matching items even if an exact match is found, include an asterisk (*) in the code or name. For example, to find all order codes that begin with 123 (such as 123, 1231, 1232, etc), you could type 123*. To find all order codes that end with 123 (such as 123, 1123, 2123, etc), you could type *123. To find all order codes that contain 123 (such as 123, 1231, 1123, etc), you could type *123*.

Notes:  

If you type a complete or partial custom profile description, or a partial custom profile code, or use an asterisk with a custom profile code or description, the profile will not be found. You must type the complete custom profile code.

If a predefined panel is client-specific, that profile will not appear in the search results for clients that are not allowed to use it.

b Press Enter or click Search.

If you did not include an asterisk in the code or name, and an exact match was found, the search stops, and the code is automatically selected and appears in the Selected Order Codes area.

If you included an asterisk in the code or name, or if an exact match was not found, all of the matching codes appear in the Order Codes area.

If you did not include an asterisk, the specified search string is highlighted in yellow. Handwritten order translations appear in orange; aliases appear in green.

Notes:  

If an exact match was found for a custom profile, all of the individual order codes associated with that profile appear in the Selected Order Codes area.

Up to 15 matching codes are displayed. If more than 15 matching codes were found, click More to see the additional codes.

c Select the check box next to each appropriate order code.

The order code and test name appear in the Selected Order Codes area.

Remove one or more tests. If you accidentally specified incorrect order codes, you can remove all of the codes by clicking Clear in the Selected Order Codes area. You can also remove an individual code by clearing the check box in the Order Codes area or clicking in front of the code in the Selected Order Codes area.

Notes:  

To view the orderable components of a panel, position the pointer over the order code in the Order Codes area. (This feature is not available for custom profiles.)

To view details about a listed test, panel, or custom profile, click the order code in the Order Codes area. For some labs, a Proper Order of Draw link appears at the bottom of the Directory of Service Information dialog box, providing access to important information about drawing and handling specimens.

To add the test or profile to the Selected Order Codes area, click Add. To remove it from that area, click Remove. To close the dialog box without taking any action, click Cancel.

If a test is associated with multiple order codes, the primary code is used for the query, no matter which code you specify. For example, if a CBC is associated with the primary code 6399 and the alternate code 42A, and you select 42A from among the favorites or type 42A and press Enter, 6399 appears in the Selected Order Codes area instead.

If you specified a custom profile that contained an order code that is no longer valid (for example, if the lab no longer performs that test), the invalid order code is not added to the Selected Order Codes area.

5 Click Query.

If pricing information is available for at least one test, the Price List area displays the price that was retrieved for each test, as well as the total for all of the tests.

If the lab uses Quest Diagnostics for its billing, pricing information is provided for each component of any panel. If a particular order code was included twice (for example, if it was specified individually and as part of a panel), then the price for the duplicate appears as 0.00. If the lab uses InstaMed for its billing, pricing information is provided for the whole panel rather than each component, and for each specified code (even if it might be a duplicate).

If you specified any clarify codes that contain CL, the pricing is based on the base code number. For example, if you specified code 6399CL, the pricing is based on the base code 6399. (For labs that use a different suffix, such as C, to identify a clarify code, pricing information is not retrieved.) For more information about clarify codes, see Special Order Codes.

If no pricing information is available for a particular test, the word unavailable appears in lieu of the price. (If the lab uses InstaMed for its billing, the word unavailable might also appear for the description of the test.)

6 Do one of the following:

Print the pricing information:

a Click Print.

b To print the pricing information now, make any appropriate changes on the Print dialog box and then click Print. Alternatively, if you want to review the pricing information before you print it, click Cancel.

The Price Inquiry Estimate page displays the following information: the date and time that the price was retrieved; the ID and name of the lab and facility; the client name and number; the bill type; the service types, test names, and service codes; the price for each test; and a disclaimer regarding billing.

c Do one or more of the following:

To print the estimate, click Print. On the Print dialog box, make any appropriate changes and then click Print.

To close the estimate dialog box, click Close.

Change the tests. To add or remove tests from your price inquiry, click Back and then repeat steps 46.