What radiology practices need to know about 2021 CPT coding changes
With the calendar flipping over to 2021, there are a handful Current Procedural Terminology changes worth noting for radiology practices, experts reported this week.
In particular, the code for low-dose lung cancer screening (G0297) has been replaced by new version: 71271. This will have some financial implications for diagnostic radiology providers, with the replacement assigned a 4.8% higher relative value unit, consulting firm Healthcare Administrative Partners noted in its coding blog Wednesday.
Meanwhile, the global RVU for 71271 is 36% lower. Yet, thanks to revaluation of the conversion factor, the pricing for the professional component “increased only slightly,” while the global value decreased 38%, HAP noted.
Other modifications include new codes for breast CT, while codes for ultrasound study follow up (76970) and red cell survival study (78135) have both been deleted. Much of this, however, will have “minimal” effect on diagnostic radiologists’ daily work, the firm emphasized.
“Other than the global fee cut to the CT lung screening code, these changes will have little financial impact directly,” wrote Erin Stephens, senior client manager in education for HAP.
In its own update, the American College of Radiology highlighted new codes for irreversible electroporation ablation, percutaneous injection of allogeneic product into lumbar spine, and additional pandemic-related expenses. The latter could include everything from face masks to cleaning supplies, staff time for pre-visit instructions, and patient symptom checks.
ACR further encouraged providers to update their charge masters, coding and billing files to reflect the CPT updates that took effect Jan. 1, and consult the latest professional codebook. For more on the revisions—including evaluation and management changes, and implications for interventional radiologists—you can find the college’s post here, and HAP’s here.
Marty Stempniak has covered healthcare since 2012, with his byline appearing in the American Hospital Association's member magazine, Modern Healthcare and McKnight's. Prior to that, he wrote about village government and local business for his hometown newspaper in Oak Park, Illinois. He won a Peter Lisagor and Gold EXCEL awards in 2017 for his coverage of the opioid epidemic.