Radiology Question for the Week of February 21, 2022

Question:

What is the purpose of code 99072? We’ve heard it is for reporting additional pandemic supplies, is this true? 

Answer:

Non-facility offices may report 99072 during the Public Health Emergency (PHE) triggered by COVID-19 for additional supplies and staff time related to respiratory-transmitted infectious disease. According to the ACR in a press release on September 10, 2020: “Code 99072 is used to report the additional practice expenses necessary in an office visit or other non-facility setting to mitigate the transmission of the respiratory disease for which the Public Health Emergency (PHE) was declared. These include, but are not limited to, additional supplies, such as face masks and cleaning supplies, as well as clinical staff time for activities such as pre-visit instructions and office arrival symptom checks that support the safe provision of evaluation, treatment, or procedural services during the respiratory infection focused PHE.” When reporting 99072, report only once per in-person patient encounter per day, per provider identification number, regardless of the number of services rendered at that encounter. Code 99072 may be reported during a PHE when the additional clinical staff duties, as described, are performed by the physician or other qualified health care professional in lieu of clinical staff.

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