AMA Billing Update for COVID-19 | Physician Practice Specialists

AMA Issues COvid-19 CPT CODE

The American Medical Association(AMA) approved a new addition to the Current Procedural Terminology (CPT^®) code set that will help streamline data-driven resource planning and allocation in the battle against the novel coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) as the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases continues to rise.

For quick reference, the new Category I CPT code and descriptor are:

87635

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 code is effective March 13, 2020 for use as the industry standard for reporting of novel coronavirus tests across the nation’s health care system.

Please note that, per the standard early release delivery process for CPT codes, you will need to manually upload this code descriptor into your EHR system. This CPT code will arrive as part of the complete CPT code set in the data file for 2021 later this year.

The code is effective immediately for use as the industry standard for reporting of tests for the novel coronavirus across the nation’s health care system. In addition to the long descriptor, CPT code 87635 has short and medium descriptors that can be accessed on the AMA website