Q0111 — Wet mounts, including preparations of vaginal, cervical or skin specimens
Q0111 is a HCPCS Level II code for wet mounts, including preparations of vaginal, cervical or skin specimens. It belongs to the Temporary Codes section. Whether Medicare pays it depends on the coverage rule below.
Medicare coverage: Carrier judgment
Coverage is decided by your Medicare contractor, not by national policy. Whether this is paid depends on the LCD for your jurisdiction and on what the documentation supports.
From the coverage field of the CMS Alpha-Numeric HCPCS File, release 2026Q3-Jul. This states Medicare’s position on the code, not on your particular claim.
Physician fee schedule statusX
Statutory exclusion. The item or service is not within the statutory definition of 'physician services', so the fee schedule never pays it.
Global period: XXX
Want the dollar amount for your locality? The fee calculator applies your GPCI and the current conversion factor.
Medically Unlikely Edits — units per day
The most units of Q0111 Medicare will pay on one date of service. Bill more on a single line and it is denied. The limit is not the same in every setting, so the row that matters is the one matching the claim you are building.
- practitioner
- 2 units MAI 3 — Date of Service Edit: Clinical · Clinical: Data
- outpatient
- 2 units MAI 3 — Date of Service Edit: Clinical · Clinical: Data
- DME supplier
- 0 — never payable MAI 3 — Date of Service Edit: Clinical · CMS Policy
The adjudication indicator decides whether exceeding the limit is worth appealing at all: MAI 1 is a line edit you can support with documentation, MAI 3 is a date-of-service edit that is also appealable, and MAI 2 is absolute — no documentation overrides it. CMS MUE 2026Q3.
The CMS record for Q0111
- Long descriptor
- Wet mounts, including preparations of vaginal, cervical or skin specimens
- Short descriptor
- Wet mounts/ w preparations
- Added
- January 1, 1994
- BETOS
- T1H
- Pricing indicator
- 21 — Clinical lab fee schedule
The official wording. This is what the code means.
CMS's 28-character form, which is what shows up on a remittance advice.
When CMS introduced the code.
Berenson-Eggers Type of Service — CMS's own analytic grouping.
Price subject to the national limitation amount.
Codes adjacent to Q0111
HCPCS has no hierarchy — related items simply sit next to each other in the numbering. If Q0111 is not quite right, the correct code is very often within a few positions of it.
- P9615Catheterization for collection of specimen(s) (multiple patients)
- Q0035Cardiokymography
- Q0081Infusion therapy, using other than chemotherapeutic drugs, per visit
- Q0083Chemotherapy administration by other than infusion technique only (e.g., subcutaneous, intramuscular, push), per visit
- Q0084Chemotherapy administration by infusion technique only, per visit
- Q0085Chemotherapy administration by both infusion technique and other technique(s) (e.g., subcutaneous, intramuscular, push), per visit
- Q0091Screening papanicolaou smear; obtaining, preparing and conveyance of cervical or vaginal smear to laboratory
- Q0092Set-up portable x-ray equipment
- Q0112All potassium hydroxide (koh) preparations
- Q0113Pinworm examinations
- Q0114Fern test
- Q0115Post-coital direct, qualitative examinations of vaginal or cervical mucous
- Q0138Injection, ferumoxytol, for treatment of iron deficiency anemia, 1 mg (non-esrd use)
- Q0139Injection, ferumoxytol, for treatment of iron deficiency anemia, 1 mg (for esrd on dialysis)
- Q0144Azithromycin dihydrate, oral, capsules/powder, 1 gram
- Q0155Dronabinol (syndros), 0.1 mg, oral, fda approved prescription anti-emetic, for use as a complete therapeutic substitute for an iv anti-emetic at the time of chemotherapy treatment, not to exceed a 48 hour dosage regimen
Questions about Q0111
What is HCPCS code Q0111?
Q0111 is a HCPCS Level II code for wet mounts, including preparations of vaginal, cervical or skin specimens. It sits in the Temporary Codes section.
Does Medicare cover Q0111?
The CMS HCPCS file marks Q0111 as "Carrier judgment". Coverage is decided by your Medicare contractor, not by national policy. Whether this is paid depends on the LCD for your jurisdiction and on what the documentation supports.
How is Q0111 paid under the physician fee schedule?
Q0111 carries PFS status code X. Statutory exclusion. The item or service is not within the statutory definition of 'physician services', so the fee schedule never pays it.