Category: COVID19

The American Medical Association put forth two vaccine product codes and four vaccine administration codes, which are expected to become effective at a future date. The codes “will be available for use and effective upon each new coronavirus vaccine receiving Emergency Use Authorization or approval from the Food and Drug Administration,” the AMA states. The CPT Editorial Panel, working with the CDC, approved a “unique CPT code for each of two coronavirus vaccines,” which the AMA says will aid in providing data about the spread and incidence of COVID-19, according…

 Summary of the SARS-CoV-2 related CPT codes that have been approved and published for the 2021 CPT code set. Accepted addition of code 87635 to report infectious agent detection by nucleic acid (DNA or RNA); severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) (Coronavirus disease [COVID-19]), amplified probe technique. The new code was effective March 13, 2020. Accepted revision of code 86318 to report immunoassay for infectious agent antibody(ies) and to be a parent to 86328; addition of code 86328 to report single step antibody testing for severe acute respiratory syndrome…

CMS announced yesterday that Medicare payment will be available for both the purchase and administration of bamlanivimab, which can be used to treat mild-to-moderate COVID-19 in certain adult and pediatric patients, according to the FDA’s recent emergency use authorization. However, the drug is expected to be free for healthcare providers at first, according to the announcement. The Medicare payment rate for the administration of bamlanivimab will be $309.60. The rate will cover one hour of infusion and post-administration monitoring in the hospital outpatient setting and will be adjusted according to…

AMA has added two new CPT code for COVID test, which have been approved for immediate use. The two new 2021 CPT code set are new medical testing services sparked by the public health response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Below are the two new added CPT codes for COVID testing by AMA. CPT code 99072 allows for the provision of evaluation, treatment, or procedural services during a public health emergency in a setting where extra precautions are taken to ensure the safety of patients as well as healthcare professionals. CPT code…

ICD-10-CM Code(s) The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS), the federal agency responsible for maintaining the International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems, 10th Revision, Clinical Modification (ICD-10-CM) in the United States, implemented the following ICD-10-CM code effective April 1, 2020: U07.1 COVID-19 In addition, new guidelines specific to COVID-19 were added to the ICD-10-CM Official Guidelines for Coding and Reporting effective April 1, 2020 through September 30, 2020. ICD-10-PCS Code(s) The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has added…

AMA (American Medical Association) has again introduced four new CPT codes for Coronavirus testing. The new codes add to the AMA’s growing list of coronavirus-related CPT codes that have been approved and published for the 2021 code set. The new CPT codes are 86408 for SARS-CoV-2 neutralizing antibody screen; code 86409 for SARS-CoV-2 neutralizing antibody titer; and codes 0225U and 0226U for proprietary laboratory analyses to detect SARS-CoV-2. Coronavirus antibody testing is now broadly available as communities reopen and start to resume normal activities. The tests can determine if a person…

The ICD 10 coding guidelines for COVID cases may soon be discontinued after September 2020 and New ICD 10 coding guidelines will take effect from 1st October 2020. Hence the new ICD 10 coding guidelines will have lot of changes which will include the Covid-19 or Coronavirus cases as well. Coders should note that the temporary guidelines will expire September 30. New instructions for reporting ICD-10-CM code U07.1 (2019-nCoV acute respiratory disease) include the following: Acute respiratory manifestations of COVID-19. Code U07.1 should be assigned as the principal diagnosis if…

The American Medical Association (AMA) recently updated Current Procedural Terminology (CPT) to enable proper COVID-19 coding and billing of antigen tests performed on patients suspected of being infected with the novel coronavirus. CPT code 87426 is a Category I CPT code approved by the CPT Editorial Panel late last week during a special meeting. The long descriptor is: Infectious agent antigen detection by immunoassay technique, (eg, enzyme immunoassay [EIA], enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay [ELISA], immunochemiluminometric assay [IMCA]) qualitative or semiquantitative, multiple-step method; severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (eg, SARS-CoV, SARS-CoV-2 [COVID-19]) The new…

The new code o202U describes a multiplex amplified probe test that provides qualitative identification of multiple respiratory viral and bacterial pathogens from a single specimen obtained using nasopharyngeal swabs. The test contains nucleic acid targets for identifying 22 specific respiratory pathogens, including SARS-CoV-2. New code 0202U is effective immediately for reporting this laboratory test. Note, code 0202U is not included in the CPT 2020 code set, but it will be included in the Proprietary Laboratory Analyses subsection of the Pathology and Laboratory section of the CPT 2021 code set. 0202U …