Practice Management Alert

Question: I noticed some of the codes in the 2010 CPT manual have a # next to them. What does that mark mean?

Texas Subscriber

Answer: The pound symbol (#) or hash mark is a new marking in the 2010 CPT manuals that says a code is out of order. The AMA decided to add a # designation rather than move groups of codes to new sections and completely renumber existing codes. "Resequencing makes a lot of sense to avoid renumbering the codes," explained William T. Thorwarth Jr., MD, in "CPT 2010 Overview" at the CPT and RBRVS 2010 Annual Symposium's opening session in Chicago.

The AMA also has a new method of relocating an existing out-of-order code. Rather than deleting the code and creating a new number, the AMA will move the code to its more appropriate location and leave a note for you.

"Where you would expect the code to be, we added references referring to the code's new place," Peter A. Hollmann, MD, said in the symposium's final session of the day: "CPT 2010 Resequencing Principles." For example, CPT moved +51797 (Voiding pressure studies, intraabdominal [i.e., rectal, gastric, intraperitoneal] [List separately in addition to code for primary procedure]) under the complex cystometrogram (CMG) codes (51727-51729). CPT didn't change the code's meaning, but due to the bundling project for all urodynamics typically performed in the same day, it fit better after the urodynamics codes 51727-51729.

So, the AMA put +51797 after 51729 and added:

• The # sign in front of +51797 to designate the code as out of order

• A reference where +51797 would have been found numerically.