Physician Information | Testing Options | Allergy in Your Practice

The availability of in vitro allergy tests gives you diagnostic tools to identify your allergic patients, develop a treatment plan or determine if referral to a specialist is required. In addition, complementary tests can help you further characterize the patient’s allergy or distinguish between allergy and other diseases.

For example, patients with gastrointestinal symptoms may also be tested for anti-Gliadin IgG and anti-Gliadin IgA, autoimmune markers for celiac disease in which destruction of the gut villous structure increases the permeability of the absorptive area to macromolecules, resulting in increased antibody production to food proteins. Gliadin, which is the ethanol-soluble fraction of wheat gluten, is also found in barley, oats and rye.

In another case, urticaria is often associated with autoimmune thyroid disease. Patients with urticaria may also be tested for anti-Thyroid Peroxidase (TPO, microsomal) and anti-Thyroglobulin (Tg) to determine if autoimmune thyroiditis is the underlying cause of the symptom.

Testing for allergy and autoimmunity can be accomplished either in your moderately complex, CLIA-registered in-office laboratory or through a reference laboratory. Many laboratories offer regional panels that cover a broad array of the airborne allergens specific to given areas.

Once you know what your patient is allergic to, you can design a course of therapy that may include avoidance and environmental controls, classical or sublingual immunotherapy, pharmacotherapy or some combination of these treatments. Serious allergy cases may be referred to a specialist.

The following CPT codes apply if you perform allergy and related testing in your laboratory.