Online Evaluation Gets New CPT Code

The American Medical Association announced in December that it has created a temporary Current Procedural Terminology (CPT) code (0074T) for online medical evaluations of patients by physicians and health care professionals.

The new code falls under Category III CPT temporary codes, which are used for emerging technology, services, and procedures, according to AMA spokesperson Katherine Hatwell.

Public payers such as Medicare will officially implement the code on July 1; however, private payers may reimburse physicians for online medical consultations before then, said Hatwell.

“The six-month lag time is needed to allow payers to add the new code to their systems,” said Hatwell. “The AMA introduced the new code to make it easier to report and track online consultations; however, payment for these services remains the prerogative of the payer.”

Services that may be eligible for reimbursement under the new CPT code are the physician’s timely online response to an established patient’s request, related phone calls, prescriptions, and laboratory orders. The online response must be stored or printed out as a hard copy. Ineligible services are patient contacts unrelated to the online communication, according to the AMA.

The new code and other early-release Category III CPT codes are posted on the AMA Web site at www.ama-assn.org/ama/pub/article/3885-4897.html. ▪