Gastrointestinal Panels

Covers multiplex gastrointestinal nucleic acid amplification panels (GI pathogen panels) to detect bacterial, viral, or parasitic enteropathogens in stool for patients with suspected infectious gastroenteritis—including moderate-to-severe acute diarrhea (fever, bloody stools, severe pain/dehydration), community- or travel-associated diarrhea >7 days, immunocompromised patients, and other presentations where results are expected to affect clinical management. Testing is limited to cases meeting documented clinical criteria and to the minimum targets needed for decision-making; results require clinical correlation because high sensitivity can detect nonviable organisms or colonization, and certain assays/targets (including resistance-gene testing) or tests lacking demonstrated clinical validity/usefulness are considered experimental or not medically necessary.

"Acute diarrhea with moderate-to-severe symptoms (e."