2025 CPT Updates for Dermatology and Surgery: Key Changes and Practice Impact

2025 CPT Updates for Dermatology and Surgery: Key Changes and Practice Impact

As the healthcare landscape shifts, dermatology and surgical practices must adapt to new coding and guideline updates to maintain operational efficiency and compliance. The 2025 CPT updates bring targeted changes that directly affect these specialties. Here’s a detailed breakdown of the updates and their impact:

Overview of 2025 CPT Changes

• Additions:
  • Telemedicine-specific codes for time-based services tailored to dermatology and surgical practices.
  • New codes for laboratory medicine and oncology that may intersect with dermatological needs.
  • Brief virtual check-ins for established patients to streamline follow-up care.
• Deletions:
  • Telephone-only E&M codes, impacting follow-ups conducted solely via phone.
  • SARS, RSV, and COVID vaccine codes replaced with updated versions.
• Modifications: Expansion and refinement of surgical procedure codes for better specificity.

Telemedicine Changes

• Elimination of telephone evaluation and management codes 99441, 99442, and 99443 as of December 2024.
• Medicare’s telemedicine rules revert to pre-COVID policies after March 31, 2025, with limited exceptions for dialysis and behavioral health in shortage areas.
• Commercial insurers may follow suit, requiring proactive adaptation from practices.

New Service CPT Codes

Education, digital tools, and remote monitoring take center stage:

• Education and Training:
  • 98960-98962: Codes for patient self-management education provided by nonphysician professionals in individual or group settings.
• Digital and Remote Services:
  • Online digital assessments, including symptom checkers and wearable data analysis, with time-based increments (98970-98972).
  • Remote therapeutic monitoring (98975) for setup and patient education.

Skin Autograft Code Updates

Specific to dermatology and surgical practices, eight new codes (15011 to 15018) enhance reporting for skin graft procedures:

• Detailed steps, from harvesting to application of skin cell suspension autografts, now have dedicated codes for improved accuracy.
• Removal of cervicoplasty code 15819 simplifies related surgical coding.

HCPCS Code Enhancements

• Codes such as G2211 and G0557 address complexities in chronic condition care and post-operative follow-ups.
• Infectious disease-related E&M services also gain updated complexity codes.

How These Changes Affect Dermatology and Surgery Practices

The 2025 updates emphasize the need for revised workflows, advanced coding practices, and accurate financial projections. At Svast Healthcare Technologies, we specialize in helping practices adapt to these changes by:

• Streamlining workflow modifications.
• Ensuring coding compliance with expert RCM support.
• Offering tools and technology to boost operational efficiency.

Visit Svast Healthcare Technologies to learn more about how we can help your practice succeed.