CPT® 2024 Update: New CPT Codes and Guidelines
Take a look at the updates in CPT coding and guidelines for professional services.
Every year, on January 1st, updated CPT® codes and coding guidelines emerge, introducing new, revised, and eliminated codes. For instance, in CPT® 2024, there are 230 new codes, 70 revised ones, and 49 removed codes. Notably, no alterations apply to anesthesia, integumentary, digestive, male genital, or auditory systems. The most substantial modifications occur within evaluation and management (E/M) services, the phrenic nerve stimulation system, lab and pathology, COVID-19 and RSV vaccinations, and Category III codes. Below is a breakdown of the changes across sections.
Evaluation and Management
Within the E/M section, adjustments were made to the code descriptors of office and other outpatient visit codes (99202-99215). These revisions aimed to align their language with other E/M codes by removing specific time ranges. As an illustration, the descriptor for 99213 now states that “… 20 minutes must be met or exceeded.” It’s important to note that this editorial alteration doesn’t modify the time linked to each code.
Additionally within this section, E/M guidelines now cover split/shared visits. CPT® specifies that the significant part of the encounter involving medical decision making (MDM) necessitates physician(s) or other Qualified Healthcare Provider(s) (QHP) involvement in creating or approving the management plan for the complexity of problems addressed during the encounter. This involvement holds the responsibility for the plan, encompassing the inherent risks of complications and/or patient management’s morbidity or mortality. This means that a physician or other QHP fulfills two of the three elements used in selecting the code level based on MDM.
The guidelines also address data, constituting the third element of E/M. If code selection relies on time, the provider who predominantly spent the time during a split/shared visit should report the service.
Furthermore, additional guidelines were included to clarify reporting multiple E/M services on the same date, such as hospital inpatient and observation care or nursing facility visits, which are considered “per day” services. When a patient sees the same specialty provider multiple times within the same day and setting within the same group practice, a single E/M code is used. A thorough review of the detailed E/M guidelines is crucial for accurate E/M coding.
Moreover, within this section, revisions were made to two nursing facility codes: 99306 now specifies 50 minutes instead of 45 minutes, and 99308 denotes 20 minutes instead of 15 minutes.
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