Some of the central, commercial laboratories have ordering codes that permit the ordering physician to specifically request that testing be performed by IFA, but often these codes are elusive to find, and sometimes it is difficult for primary care physicians, other physicians, and even rheumatologists to realize which test is being ordered.
The taskforce is alerting the membership that ANA testing by IFA is still available. The code for Quest is 38318. Quest has another ANA test choice, 19946, but this is a solid assay and is not recommended as a screening test for ANAs. LabCorp also has an ANA IFA code, 164947.
For more information about this topic, read “Know Your Labs” in the February 2009 issue of The Rheumatologist (p. 1), or visit www.rheumatology.org to read the ACR’s position paper encouraging commercial laboratories to utilize the IFA test to detect ANA. You can also participate in the conversation by joining the ACR’s advocacy list serve; visit www.rheumatology.org to subscribe.
