During vasovasostomy/vasoepididyostomy procedures, our surgeons perform intra-op sperm identification from aspirate (description below of the exact work being performed).  We had been billing 88333-88334 for this work – these codes are not bundled, and we’re being paid for them – when one of our newest coders suggested this was not appropriate billing.  Other than the fact that the 88333-4 codes are for an intra-op pathology consult, the work the surgeon is performing fits.  Is this truly an inappropriate billing? 

I investigated other path/lab codes that may be more appropriate as the performing provider, but all that I could find were codes with no RVUs (again, review the email chain below).  Being that we’re talking about the surgeon's work vs. the facility component of the OR, this doesn’t seem sufficient.  Looking for recommendation(s) on how to capture this work.