COVID Vaccine Coding Changes as of November 1, 2023
October 26th, 2023 - Wyn Staheli
Correctly coding the administration of COVID-19 vaccines had become such a huge burden for providers. You needed to know VERY specific information which required knowing detailed patient information that providers may not have had access to (e.g., which booster are they getting?). Back in August, the AMA announced that there would be significant changes to the codes, which should relieve that burden.
Now that the COVID-19 public health emergency (PHE) has ended, there is no longer the same need to track some of the same data that was necessary during the PHE. According to the AMA website the following changes are taking place (emphasis added):
- Adding new codes 91318-91322 for the new COVID-19 monovalent vaccine
- Kept code 91304 for Novavax’s currently authorized vaccine product and the updated (XBB.1.5) vaccine
- Deleted 64 existing COVID-19 vaccine codes (product and administration with associated guidelines and parenthetical note deletions/revisions)
- Revised 1 code (91304)
- Adding a single administration code (90480) for administration of new (i.e., 91318-91322) and existing (i.e., 91304) COVID-19 vaccine products
- Deleted Appendix Q — the table of all the vaccines and their associated administration codes
All those complicated CPT administration codes (those ending in “A”) that are no longer covered under an existing Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) will be deleted effective November. 1, 2023.
It is important to note that these changes will not be found in the soon-to-be released 2024 CPT codebook. You won’t see these changes in a book until the 2025 edition. However, they will be made available on the FindACode.com website beginning November 1, 2023 and will show up there automatically on the date they are effective so there is no need for existing customers to update anything except to make sure you are viewing the “current date”.
###
Questions, comments?
If you have questions or comments about this article please contact us. Comments that provide additional related information may be added here by our Editors.
Latest articles: (any category)
Artificial Intelligence in Healthcare - A Medical Coder's PerspectiveDecember 26th, 2023 - Aimee WilcoxWe constantly hear how AI is creeping into every aspect of healthcare but what does that mean for medical coders and how can we better understand the language used in the codeset? Will AI take my place or will I learn with it and become an integral part of the process that uses AI to enhance my abilities?
Specialization: Your Advantage as a Medical Coding ContractorDecember 22nd, 2023 - Find-A-CodeMedical coding contractors offer a valuable service to healthcare providers who would rather outsource coding and billing rather than handling things in-house. Some contractors are better than others, but there is one thing they all have in common: the need to present some sort of value proposition in order to land new clients. As a contractor, your value proposition is the advantage you offer. And that advantage is specialization.
ICD-10-CM Coding of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD)December 19th, 2023 - Aimee WilcoxChronic respiratory disease is on the top 10 chronic disease list published by the National Institutes of Health (NIH). Although it is a chronic condition, it may be stable for some time and then suddenly become exacerbated and even impacted by another acute respiratory illness, such as bronchitis, RSV, or COVID-19. Understanding the nuances associated with the condition and how to properly assign ICD-10-CM codes is beneficial.
Changes to COVID-19 Vaccines Strike AgainDecember 12th, 2023 - Aimee WilcoxAccording to the FDA, CDC, and other alphabet soup entities, the old COVID-19 vaccines are no longer able to treat the variants experienced today so new vaccines have been given the emergency use authorization to take the place of the old vaccines. No sooner was the updated 2024 CPT codebook published when 50 of the codes in it were deleted, some of which were being newly added for 2024.
Updated ICD-10-CM Codes for AppendicitisNovember 14th, 2023 - Aimee WilcoxWith approximately 250,000 cases of acute appendicitis diagnosed annually in the United States, coding updates were made to ensure high-specificity coding could be achieved when reporting these diagnoses. While appendicitis almost equally affects both men and women, the type of appendicitis varies, as dose the risk of infection, sepsis, and perforation.
COVID Vaccine Coding Changes as of November 1, 2023October 26th, 2023 - Wyn StaheliCOVID vaccine changes due to the end of the PHE as of November 1, 2023 are addressed in this article.
Medicare Guidance Changes for E/M ServicesOctober 11th, 2023 - Wyn Staheli2023 brought quite a few changes to Evaluation and management (E/M) services. The significant revisions as noted in the CPT codebook were welcome changes to bring other E/M services more in line with the changes that took place with Office or Other Outpatient Services a few years ago. As part of CMS’ Medicare Learning Network, the “Evaluation and Management Services Guide” publication was finally updated as of August 2023 to include the changes that took place in 2023. If you take a look at the new publication (see references below),....