CPT 2010 adds More Options to Your Vaccine Administration Coding

Earlier Editions of CPT include vaccine administration codes (90465-90468) for children younger than eight years of age. Now CPT 2011adding more options to your Vaccine Administration.

As winter sets in, CPT 2011 will bring some welcome additions to your observation care and vaccine administration coding options. These vaccine administration codes are expected to help boost physicians' bottomlines.

Earlier editions of CPT included vaccine administration codes (90465-90468) for children younger than eight years of age when the physician counseled the patient/family. This time, CPT introduces two administration codes that expand the concept to include adolescents and teens and does away with the distinction based on route administration:

90460 -- Immunization administration through 18 years of age via any route of administration, with counseling by physician or other qualified health care professional; first vaccine/toxoid component

90461 -- each additional vaccine/toxoid component (List separately in addition to code for primary procedure).
You could find yourself relying frequently on 90460 and 90461 if your physician often provides counseling with vaccinations for patients 18 or under. Perhaps part of the supposed need for these codes was the increasing prevalence of multicomponent vaccines. The physician needs to counsel regarding each component; but the coding did not distinguish that higher amount of counseling from counseling for a single component. The switch allows physicians to get credit for each component on which they counsel, and not the number of shots given.

Note: Components drive vaccine descriptors

The new immunization administration codes this time are based on the number of components in the vaccine.

Get a sneak peek on these vaccine administration codes as well the entire CPT code list (http://www.supercoder.com/cpt-codes) for the coming year by signing up for a medical coding guide like Supercoder!