CCSD code 0087B: Serine level test billing guide

Key Takeaways

CCSD code 0087B identifies a serine level test, a biochemistry blood test, in the UK Clinical Coding and Schedule Development (CCSD) schedule. It is a laboratory analysis, not a surgical or clinical procedure, and that shapes how you bill it.

It sits in the biochemistry section of the schedule and is used to bill the test to private medical insurers such as Bupa, AXA Health, and Vitality, each of which references CCSD codes in its own fee schedule.

There is no fixed fee. What you are paid depends on the insurer and your individual recognition agreement, so check the current figure before you bill rather than assuming a rate.

Much of the detail sits behind a provider login. Confirm the current wording and status of 0087B against the live CCSD schedule and your insurer’s own code search before submitting a claim.

CCSD code 0087B is the code you use to bill a serine level test, a biochemistry blood test that measures the amino acid serine, to UK private medical insurers. It lives in the biochemistry section of the CCSD schedule, which tells you the most important thing about it up front: this is a pathology test, not a surgical or clinical procedure.

So whether you are a consultant setting up private billing for the first time or an administrator processing a stack of PMI claims, here is what 0087B actually is, who recognises it, and how to get the claim through on the first pass.

What CCSD code 0087B actually is

CCSD code 0087B is listed in the CCSD schedule, maintained by the Clinical Coding and Schedule Development group, the body that standardises the procedure and test codes used across UK private healthcare. That schedule is the shared reference private medical insurers and independent providers use to identify, record, and reimburse what happens in a consultation, including the tests ordered off the back of it.

Serine is one of the amino acids the body makes for itself, so a serine level test does exactly what the name says: it measures how much serine is present in a blood sample, usually as part of a wider look at a patient’s amino acids or metabolic picture.

For billing, though, the clinical detail matters less than the category. This is a laboratory analysis. A sample is taken, sent to a lab, analysed, and reported back. Nobody “performs” 0087B on a patient the way they would an injection or an operation, and that single fact drives how the claim has to be built.

The CCSD schedule is updated periodically, and a lot of the code-level detail sits behind a provider login rather than out on the open web. So treat the description here as the shape of the thing, and confirm the current wording and status of 0087B against the live schedule and your insurer’s own code search before you bill it. Here is how it sits in the schedule:

Which insurers recognise it, and what “recognised” really means

The major UK private medical insurers all reference the CCSD schedule when they process claims, so 0087B is a code they will recognise in principle. That list includes Bupa, AXA Health, Vitality, Aviva, Cigna, WPA, and Healix. What it does not mean is that recognition equals a guaranteed payment at a set rate.

Each insurer builds its own fee schedule on top of the CCSD codes, and whether a given test is covered for a given patient still comes back to your recognition agreement and that patient’s policy.

In practice, the reliable move is to check the code against the insurer’s own tool rather than trust a general list. Bupa lets recognised practitioners look up codes directly through its code search, and our Bupa CCSD codes guide walks through how Bupa applies them.

The table below is a starting point for where to look, not a promise of coverage:

Some insurers also apply extra conditions to particular tests, from pre-authorisation to limits on how often a test can be repeated. None of that shows up on a generic code list, which is why “check before you treat it as covered” is the rule that saves the most rework.

Fees: why there isn’t a number here

You will not find a definitive reimbursement rate for 0087B anywhere, and you should be wary of any source that quotes one. Each insurer sets its own fee, and the figure you actually receive depends on your recognition agreement, your specialty and seniority classification, and the version of the schedule in force at the time. The same test can pay differently across two insurers, and differently again under two agreements with the same insurer.

So the honest answer to “what does it pay?” is “look it up for your setup.” Vitality’s fee finder shows recognised providers their current fee per code, Bupa’s code search does the equivalent, and your own agreement paperwork is the final word. Keep a simple internal reference of the current agreed rate per payer for the codes you bill often, and revisit it whenever a schedule update lands.

How the claim actually moves

A rejected pathology claim is rarely bad luck. It almost always traces back to the test getting miscoded or the claim sent late. Walking the claim through end to end is the easiest way to see where each of those creeps in.

Here is the path a serine test takes from consulting room to paid invoice.

Step 1: The test gets requested

It starts with a requesting clinician deciding, during a consultation, that a serine level is worth checking. That decision is the clinical anchor for the whole claim, so the reason for the test needs to land in the notes at this point, not be reconstructed later. Before the sample is even taken, check whether the patient’s insurer wants pre-authorisation for the investigation. Some do, some don’t, and finding out afterwards is the expensive way.

Step 2: Sample to lab

Bloods are taken and sent to the pathology lab, which runs the analysis and returns a result. This is the part that makes 0087B a test and not a procedure, and it is worth being deliberate about who bills what. Depending on your arrangement, the lab may invoice separately for the analysis while you bill the consultation, or the test may sit on your invoice as a pathology line. Knowing which applies before the claim goes out prevents the same test being billed twice or falling between two stools.

Step 3: Code it on the invoice, exactly as published

When 0087B goes on the invoice, it goes on as a pathology line with the code exactly as the schedule publishes it, the description that matches, the date the sample was taken, and the agreed fee. Many insurers also want the requesting clinician’s GMC number, the patient’s policy or membership number, and the pre-authorisation reference if one was issued. A tidy invoice here is worth more than any appeal later.

Step 4: Submit through Healthcode

Healthcode is the electronic billing platform most UK PMIs accept or require, and it earns its keep by validating claims against the CCSD schedule and flagging coding problems before the insurer ever sees them. Paper submission is still accepted by some insurers, but it is slower and more error-prone. For anyone billing PMI claims with any regularity, electronic submission is the default worth setting up.

Step 5: Track it and follow up

Once it’s submitted, don’t lose sight of it. Most insurers publish a processing window in their provider guides, and if a claim is queried or rejected you usually have a defined period to respond. That is where the notes from step one earn their place: a claim backed by the request reason, the result, and clean documentation is one you can defend quickly instead of chasing from scratch.

Before you submit: A quick checklist

Run down this list before the claim leaves your desk. It maps to the five failure points above, tuned for a pathology line rather than a procedure:

• The code reads 0087B exactly as the current schedule publishes it, on a pathology line.
• You’ve confirmed the test is billed as a test, not miscoded as a procedure.
• Pre-authorisation is in place, with the reference on the invoice, if the insurer requires it.
• The requesting clinician, the sample date, and the clinical reason for the test are all recorded.
• The fee matches your current agreement with this insurer, not an assumed or out-of-date figure.
• It’s clear who is billing the lab analysis, so the same test isn’t claimed twice.
• The patient’s policy or membership number and, where needed, the GMC number are included.
• You’re inside the insurer’s submission window.

Common mistakes, and how to dodge them

Most of what goes wrong with a code like this is predictable. These are the ones that come up again and again:

• Treating it as a procedure. This is the big one. A serine test is a biochemistry analysis, so the workflow, the documentation, and the invoice line all belong to pathology. Force it into a procedure-shaped claim and it reads wrong to the insurer.
• Assuming a fixed fee. There isn’t one. Quote yourself a rate from memory and you’ll either undercharge or trigger a query. Check the current figure for your agreement each time it matters.
• Billing against an old schedule. Descriptions and rules change between revisions. If your reference is a year out of date, so is your claim.
• Skipping pre-authorisation. Where an insurer requires it, a covered test still won’t pay without it. Confirm before the sample is taken, not after.
• Double-billing the analysis. If the lab invoices for the test and you also put it on your invoice, one of those gets rejected. Agree who bills what up front.
• Documentation that doesn’t reach the result. A request with no recorded reason, or a result not tied back to the encounter, is what turns a routine query into a slow one.

Keeping the test, the result, and the claim in one place

Nearly every mistake above is really a joining-up problem: the request in one place, the result in another, the invoice somewhere else, and someone reconciling them by hand. That’s manageable at a handful of tests a month and genuinely risky at a hundred.

This is where practice management software like Pabau helps, by keeping the request, the returned result, the clinical note, and the CCSD-coded claim on the same patient record, then submitting it through its Healthcode integration so the pathology line is validated before it goes. Less re-keying, fewer gaps for a query to find.

Keep pathology billing tidy from request to claim

Pabau links the test request, the lab result, the clinical note, and the CCSD-coded claim on one patient record, with Healthcode submission built in. Book a demo to see how it works for UK private practices.

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The bottom line

Billing 0087B well comes down to remembering what it is. It’s a biochemistry test, a serine level, not a procedure, and coding it that way is what keeps the claim clean. Beyond that, don’t lock yourself to a fee that isn’t fixed, check the live schedule and your agreement rather than a list you found once, and keep the request, result, and documentation joined up.

Do those four things and this code stops being something that trips up claims and goes back to being a routine line on an invoice.

Continue your research

Working mostly with Bupa? Our Bupa CCSD codes guide covers how Bupa applies CCSD codes, fee chapters, and what to check before you submit.

Benchmarking what a major insurer pays? The Bupa procedure codes fee schedule is a useful reference for reimbursement across CCSD-coded items.

Running private billing as a GP practice? Private GP clinic software explains the operational side of billing through PMI channels.

Frequently asked questions