News: New combination codes released for COVID-19 and flu

As the United States enters the flu season, the American Medical Association (AMA) released two new CPT codes on October 7 for reporting antigen tests that detect COVID-19 and influenza.

Effective immediately, coders may report the following new laboratory CPT codes:

• 87636, Infectious agent detection by nucleic acid (DNA or RNA); SARS-CoV-2 and influenza virus types A and B, multiplex amplified probe technique
• 87637, Infectious agent detection by nucleic acid (DNA or RNA); SARS-CoV-2, influenza virus types A and B, and respiratory syncytial virus, multiplex amplified probe technique

The new codes describe nucleic acid assays that simultaneously detect COVID-19 and a combination of common viral infectious agents, including influenza virus types A and B (the two most common types of influenza), and respiratory syncytial virus.

According to AMA President Susan R. Bailey, MD, concurrent detection of COVID-19 and influenza will conserve important testing resources and allow for ongoing surveillance of influenza during the COVID-19 public health emergency.

The AMA’s CPT Editorial Panel also made changes to CPT codes 87301-87430, removing the term “multi-step method” from code descriptors to distinguish between antigen tests that are read by a machine and those that are visually interpreted.

Editor’s Note: This article was originally published in Revenue Cycle Advisor. To read about the relationship between COVID-19 and flu deaths, click here. To read all of ACDIS’ coverage of the COVID-19 pandemic, click here.