Four New CPT Codes for Lab Tests Available Now in Latest COVID-19 Documentation Update
Four New CPT Codes for Lab Tests Available Now in Latest COVID-19 Documentation Update
The CPT Editorial Panel conducted a special meeting to expedite the publishing of four new CPT codes for lab tests related to COVID-19 (AMA, 2020). These new CPT codes for laboratory tests, which are available for review on the AMA’s Public Health Resource Center, address the ongoing need to report COVID-19 testing. Furthermore, they include two regular CPT codes and two Proprietary Laboratory Analyses (PLA) codes.
Additionally, the effective date of these new codes is August 10, 2020:
86408 – “Neutralizing antibody, severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) (Coronavirus disease [COVID-19]); screen” (AMA, 2020).
86409 – “Neutralizing antibody, severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) (Coronavirus disease [COVID-19]); titer” (AMA, 2020).
0225U – “Infectious disease (bacterial or viral respiratory tract infection) pathogen-specific DNA and RNA, 21 targets, including severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), amplified probe technique, including multiplex reverse transcription for RNA targets, each analyte reported as detected or not detected” (AMA, 2020).
0226U – “Surrogate viral neutralization test (sVNT), severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) (Coronavirus disease [COVID-19]), ELISA, plasma, serum” (AMA, 2020).
CPT will list codes 0225U and 0226U under the Pathology and Laboratory section. They will also list those codes in the Appendix O under the procedure’s proprietary name. As dictated by the AMA, “the analysis performed must fulfill the code descriptor and must be the test represented by the proprietary name listed in Appendix O” (2020). 0225U documents the ePlex Respiratory Pathogen Panel 2 from GenMark Diagnostics. 0226U reports the Tru-Immune test from Ethos Laboratories and produced by GenScript USA.
Additional Information
In addition, the CPT Assistant Special Edition article provides additional guidance on these new CPT codes for laboratory tests. It also includes clinical examples (AMA, 2020).
These four new codes are just the latest introductions of COVID-19 testing codes. The AMA also released CPT codes 86328, 86769, 87426, 87636, 87637, 86413, and 99072 to document the tests developed for COVID-19.
Also, if your organization needs assistance with understanding and documenting these additional CPT codes for lab tests, contact our team of experts for their coding support services.
Get the latest COVID-19 medical coding training. This covers the new ICD-10-CM/PCS codes, FAQ advice, treatments, vaccines. The courses also other CMS-targeted COVID-19 training topics. You can also follow our COVID-19 Resource Center for additional updates.
