The American Medical Association (AMA) announced on March 26 new CPT coding and reporting guidance for physicians and medical practices, intended to simplify reporting of in-person and online visit services for novel coronavirus (COVID-19) patients.
CMS lifted some restrictions on telehealth coverage in a bid to keep non-critically ill patients out of clinics and hospitals to slow down the spread of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19), but other still apply to hospitals.
With the release of a new ICD-10-CM code for the novel coronavirus (COVID-19), hospitals now have a method to capture and report this critical disease. Although the code itself is relatively straightforward and likely won’t stir up confusion the way coding for complex diagnoses (such as sepsis) does, correctly documenting and coding COVID-19 is crucial to turning the tide on the national public health emergency.