CPT 80307
Drug screen, presumptive, by instrument
A presumptive (screening) drug test run on an analyser, checking for classes of drugs rather than specific substances. ERs order it for altered mental state, overdose, trauma and psychiatric presentations. A positive screen may be followed by a definitive test (80320 to 80377), which is much more expensive.
Billed to Medicare
$125
What providers submitted, on average, for this code in a hospital setting.
Medicare accepted
$41
What Medicare treated as payable. Not a commercial rate or a cash price.
The gap
3x
How many times the accepted amount the billed figure was.
National averages from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, 2024 data, retrieved 2026-09-14. Medicare fee-for-service, physician and practitioner claims only. The hospital's own charge for the same code is separate and is usually higher. Based on 44 services.
Among the 10 lab tests codes on this site with CMS figures, this gap ranks 8 of 10 (median 3.7x). The widest is Urinalysis, automated with microscopy at 5.5x.
Where this line goes wrong
Definitive testing you did not need
Definitive drug tests billed per drug class, with no presumptive screen first or no clinical reason in the note, have been a target of federal fraud enforcement. A long list of 803xx codes on an ER bill is worth a hard look.
Ordered without a reason
If the ER note does not mention a reason to test for drugs, ask why the test was ordered. You are entitled to the explanation, and a test with no clinical indication is a fair thing to dispute.
Check it, then ask
- 1
Ask for the ER note and the lab results and check that the drug screen has both a reason and a result.
- 2
If definitive tests were billed, check each has a result and ask why each was needed.
- 3
Ask for the itemized bill and the lab results and match every billed test to a result.
- 4
Check for a panel billed alongside one of its own components, or two overlapping panels on the same draw.
- 5
Count the blood draw (36415) lines; one per visit is the norm.
- 6
If self-pay, ask for the hospital's cash price for each test, or compare with an independent lab's published price.
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Codes that travel with this one
People also ask
Can the ER test me for drugs without asking?
In most circumstances, yes, as part of clinical care. But the test still has to be clinically indicated, and the bill still has to be accurate.
Sources
This page explains a billing code in general terms. It is not a coding, legal or medical opinion about your bill, and the code descriptions are mediloop's own plain-English summaries, not the official CPT descriptors, which are owned by the American Medical Association. Whether a charge was correct depends on the record of your visit and your payer's rules.