RevCycleIntelligence, October 7, 2020 – By Jacqueline LaPointe
The new CPT codes allow providers to report nucleic acid assays that allow a single test to detect both COVID-19 and other seasonal viruses, like the flu.
In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the American Medical Association (AMA) is adding two new codes to the Current Procedural Terminology (CPT) code set. The codes are for multi-virus tests that can detect both COVID-19 and other viruses, like the flu.
The new Category I codes and long descriptors are:
- 87636: Infectious agent detection by nucleic acid (DNA or RNA); severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) (Coronavirus disease [COVID-19]) and influenza virus types A and B, multiplex amplified probe technique
- 87637: Infectious agent detection by nucleic acid (DNA or RNA); severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) (Coronavirus disease [COVID-19]), influenza virus types A and B, and respiratory syncytial virus, multiplex amplified probe technique
