The American Medical Association released the 2022 Current Procedural Terminology (CPT) code set. The annual update to the CPT code set incorporates a series of 15 vaccine-specific codes for reporting and tracking immunizations and administrative services against SARS-CoV-2.
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 United States.
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.
To assist healthcare organizations with a 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.
