AMA Releases Full Language of New CPT Code for Psychedelic Therapies

The American Medical Association (AMA) has released the language of its new Current Procedural Terminology (CPT) III code for continuous in-person monitoring and intervention during psychedelic medication therapy. The code is slated to go into effect and be published in the CPT manual on January 1, 2024.

>> READ the CPT III code for continuous in-person monitoring and intervention during psychedelic medication therapy

The new code to facilitate access to psychedelic therapy in the United States was approved by the AMA in May after a joint application submitted by COMPASS Pathways and MAPS Public Benefit Corporation. Once it goes into effect, the code will provide a mechanism to track and report on the delivery of psychedelic treatments. Reported in 1-hour increments, it will cover multiple psychedelic compounds with psychological support models, if approved, as well as various staffing structures, and numbers and credentials of qualified healthcare professionals. A sub-code for the involvement of non-qualified health professional clinical staff will also be offered.

COMPASS’s COMP360 psilocybin treatment, pending approval by the US Food and Drug Administration, as well as MAPS’s MDMA-assisted therapy will be among the treatments covered by the new code, according to a COMPASS Pathways news release. The COMPASS treatment is currently in late-stage development for treatment-resistant depression.

“This new CPT III code will help ensure broad and equitable access to psychedelic therapies, if approved, for people who urgently need new options to treat their mental health conditions,” COMPASS Pathways CEO Kabir Nath, said in the release. “The language released by the American Medical Association shows that the CPT code will facilitate accurate tracking of the work required to support effective, regulated and reimbursed delivery of these new potential treatments.”

COMPASS added in its announcement that the new code “will be key to developing optimal permanent and valued category I codes for psychedelic therapies as close as possible to their potential FDA approval.”

References

American Medical Association releases language of first new current Procedural Terminology Code for psychedelic therapies. News release. COMPASS Pathways. July 6, 2023. Accessed July 6, 2023.