ACR Active in February CPT Editorial Panel Discussions

Radiology representatives participated in the February American Medical Association (AMA) CPT^® Editorial Panel meeting, the first of three CPT meeting scheduled for 2026.  The hybrid meeting focused on updating the CPT code set for 2028. The approved new Category I codes presented at this CPT meeting will be effective Jan. 1, 2028, and the Category III codes will be effective Jan. 1, 2027.

ACR^® co-sponsored a CPT code change proposal requesting Category I codes for central venous catheter insertion services. However, the Panel recommended resubmission of the code change application at a future CPT meeting to allow further refinement of the code family.

The radiology CPT advisors also met with various vendors and specialty societies to discuss upcoming potential code proposals. They reviewed more than 60 code proposals submitted to the AMA and closely monitored and commented on proposals that included imaging submitted by vendors and other specialty societies that would potentially affect radiologists. 

The CPT team was joined by content expert Summer J. Decker, PhD, F-AAFS and Frank Rybicki, MD, PhD, FACR, Chair of the newly formed ACR Artificial Intelligence (AI) Economics Committee. This committee was created by Gregory Nicola, MD, FACR, Chair of the ACR Commission on Economics, in response to the rapidly changing landscape of AI and the need to establish strong connections between the science of artificial intelligence and the economic ramifications for radiologists and their respective practices. 

The AI Economics Committee has already begun to inform ACR’s thinking and approach to the CPT process. The committee is expected to strengthen advocacy efforts and provide added value to ACR members as AI continues to shape the practice of radiology.

Organizations represented at the meeting with ACR included the Radiological Society of North America, American Roentgen Ray Society, Association of Academic Radiology, Society of Interventional Radiology, American Society of Neuroradiology, Society of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging, and the American Society for Radiation Oncology.

For more information, please contact Laura Pattie, ACR Senior Economic Policy Analyst.