Billing code 88342: Antibody stainMedicare rate & RVUs

Medicare pays $110.22 for 88342 nationally in the office. Local office rates run $97.65–$150.80.

Medicare allowed amount for participating (non-QP) physicians, before deductible, coinsurance and claim adjustments. Not a patient’s bill or a hospital charge.

What 88342 covers

Code 88342 covers the first single-antibody immunohistochemical or immunocytochemical stain on a tissue or cytology specimen, such as a cell block. A histology laboratory prepares the stained material, and a pathologist interprets the result to characterize a tumor, identify metastatic carcinoma in a lymph node, or investigate an infectious organism. These services may be performed in hospital, independent, or office-based laboratories.

Report one unit per separately identifiable specimen receiving a single-antibody stain, not per slide or tissue block. Use 88341 for additional single-antibody stains on that specimen and 88344 for a multiplex antibody stain procedure. Controls are included rather than counted as additional units. Documentation should identify the specimen, antibodies, and findings. CMS recognizes a technical component (modifier TC) for stain preparation, reagents, staff, and equipment, and a professional component (modifier 26) for interpretation. An entity performing both reports the global service without a modifier. A pathologist interpreting staining performed by a hospital laboratory generally reports 88342 with modifier 26.

This summary was written with AI assistance from CMS physician fee schedule data and checked against the CMS billing rules shown here. Rates on this page come directly from CMS files.

Where 88342 pays more and less

The same RVUs, adjusted for each area’s costs. Open a locality for its calculation, history and nearby areas.

109 of 109 payment localities

88342 rates by state

Office rate range in each state. Select a state to see its payment localities.

How the 88342 rate is calculated

Each of 88342’s three RVUs is multiplied by a geographic index (GPCI) for the payment locality, added up, and multiplied by the conversion factor. Drag the indexes or enter a ZIP to see what moves the rate.

Payment rules and modifiers for 88342

The CMS indicators that decide how 88342 is paid alongside other services.

What modifiers do to the payment

When to use modifier 26

88342 compared with similar codes

How to choose

88341Immunostain

88342 is the first single-antibody stain on a specimen; 88341 is the add-on for each further single-antibody stain on that specimen and cannot be reported alone.

88344Immunostain

88344 covers a multiplex antibody stain procedure; 88342 covers the first single-antibody stain on a specimen. A cocktail alone does not establish that a multiplex procedure was performed.

88360Tumor IHC scoring

Use 88360 when tumor immunostaining is quantitatively or semiquantitatively analyzed by a manual method, such as ER or HER2 scoring; 88342 covers single-antibody staining without that analysis.

88346Immunofluorescence

88346 covers the first single-antibody immunofluorescence stain, which is used in settings such as renal or blistering skin disease evaluation; 88342 covers a nonfluorescent immunohistochemical or immunocytochemical stain.

Codes related to 88342

Related codes aren’t interchangeable: bill the code that matches the service performed.

Where these rates come from

FeeBase calculates base physician payments from CMS work, practice-expense and malpractice RVUs, adjusted by each locality’s geographic indexes and the conversion factor. Services without a published rate are labeled, never given a made-up amount. Amounts are Medicare allowed amounts before claim adjustments: not a patient’s bill or a commercial rate.

CMS RVU26D · effective Oct 1, 2026 through the day before Jan 1, 2027

Open CMS sourceHow we calculate rates