It’s official: More E/M changes will arrive in 2023

by: Julia Kyles, CPC Mar 8, 2021

You have two years to prepare for the next wave of E/M changes. Dozens of changes will go into effect Jan. 1, 2023, according to the CPT® Editorial Summary of Panel Actions February 2021, released March 5.

AMA officials who oversaw the update to office and other outpatient E/M visits (99202-99215) that went into effect earlier this year had assured members of the health care community that the organization was working on changes to other E/M codes. They were silent on which codes would be changed and when the changes would go into effect. The latest summary answers both questions.

While not as rich in detail as the February 2019 summary that announced the overhaul of the office E/M codes, the latest panel summary alerts coders and clinicians as to the scope of the changes, which will involve revisions to the guidelines for eight service types. The updates also include two new codes, 26 deleted codes and 41 revised codes.

You also can expect revisions to the general E/M guidelines, such as a revised medical decision-making table.

The following chart provides a quick overview of where those changes will hit.

Service setting/type	New codes	Deleted codes	Revised codes
Hospital inpatient, including observation	0	7	11
Consults	0	2	8
Emergency department	0	0	5
Nursing facility	0	1	7
Domiciliary, rest home (eg, boarding home), or custodial care	0	9	0
Domiciliary, rest home (eg, assisted living facility), or home care plan oversight	0	2	0
Home	0	1	8
Prolonged	2	4	2

Watch this space and the AMA’s website for more details.

Editor’s note: Make sure your staff has a solid understanding of the new guidelines for office E/M codes 99202-99215. Register today for the half-day virtual conference: Eliminate E/M Pain Points: Conquer Early Challenges and Master Medicare Complexities, Wed., March 24, 11 a.m. – 4 p.m., ET. The event includes an hour of live Q&A and has been approved for 4 AAPC, 3.5 AHIMA and 3 BMSC CEUs.

Blog Tags: AMA, Breaking news, E/M services

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