The annual update to the CPT code set incorporates a series of 15 vaccine-specific codes that are the model for efficiently reporting and tracking immunizations and administrative services against the coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2). The work was initiated to meet the urgent public health need for streamlined reporting and tracking of COVID-19 vaccinations is presented in a press release of the 2022 Current Procedural Terminology (CPT) code set published by the American Medical Association (AMA).
Working closely with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to develop vaccine-specific CPT codes, the AMA introduced the first codes in the series for use in Nov. 2020 to clinically distinguish each coronavirus vaccine and dosing schedule for better tracking, reporting and analysis of patient vaccinations. These CPT codes were available prior to the public availability of the COVID-19 vaccines to facilitate updating of health care electronic systems across the U.S.
To help ensure accurate coding and reporting of COVID-19 vaccines and administration services, the AMA offers a vaccine code finder resource to help identify the appropriate CPT code combination for the type and dose of COVID-19 vaccine provided to each patient. The 2022 CPT code set also includes an appendix for one-stop access to all the codes for COVID-19 vaccine reporting.
The COVID-19 vaccine and administration codes are among 405 editorial changes in the 2022 CPT code set, including 249 new codes, 63 deletions and 93 revisions. The CPT code set continues to see growth in new and novel areas of medicine with 43% of editorial changes tied to new technology services described in Category III CPT codes and the continued expansion of the Proprietary Laboratory Analyses (PLA) section of the CPT code set.
Changes to the CPT code set are considered through an open editorial process managed by the CPT Editorial Panel, an independent body convened by the AMA that collects broad input from the healthcare community and beyond to ensure CPT content reflects the coding demands of digital health, precision medicine, augmented intelligence and other aspects of a modern healthcare system. This rigorous editorial process keeps the CPT code set current with contemporary medical science and technology so it can fulfill its vital role as the trusted language of medicine today and the code to its future.
Other important additions to the 2022 CPT code set respond to the fast pace of innovation in digital medicine services that can improve health care access and enhance outcomes for patients across the country. This is illustrated by the creation of five new CPT codes (98975, 98976, 98977, 98980, 98981) to report therapeutic remote monitoring, an increasingly important avenue of patient care especially during the COVID-19 pandemic. These codes expand on the remote physiologic monitoring codes that were created in 2020 (99453, 99454, 99457, 99458).
As innovative digital medicine services have quickly expanded in recent years, the CPT code set has responded with a unique educational guide. A new appendix included in the 2022 CPT code set provides a taxonomy for digital medicine services that supports increased awareness and understanding of approaches to patient care through the multifaceted digital medicine services available for reporting in the CPT code set.
The CPT Editorial Panel also created new codes for principal care management (99424, 99425, 99426, 99427), which allow physicians and qualified healthcare professionals to report care management services for patients with one complex chronic condition. Medicare policy for principal care management services has been evolving and the new CPT codes, along with revisions to existing CPT codes for care management, better align with Medicare guidelines. These CPT changes add to nearly a decade of coding content work that respond to the reporting needs of physicians and others who help manage the chronic conditions of America’s aging population.
To assist the healthcare system in an orderly annual transition to a newly modified CPT code set, the AMA releases each new edition four months ahead of the Jan. 1 operational date and develops an insider’s view with detailed information on the new changes in the 2022 CPT code set.
Coding books and products, including the CPT Professional 2022 codebook, are available from the AMA Storefront on Amazon.
