Zoll Medical’s TherOx SSO2 Therapy Receives New AMA Category III CPT Code

August 9, 2021—Zoll Medical Corporation, an Asahi Kasei company, announced the American Medical Association (AMA) CPT Editorial Panel issued a new Category III CPT code for the company’s TherOx supersaturated oxygen (SSO2) therapy.

The code—0659T (transcatheter intracoronary infusion of SSO2 in conjunction with percutaneous coronary revascularization during acute myocardial infarction, including catheter placement, imaging guidance [eg, fluoroscopy], angiography, and radiologic supervision and interpretation)—was effective as of July 1, 2021, for SSO2 therapy for treatment of patients with left anterior descending ST-segment elevation myocardial infarctions (LAD STEMIs).

According to Zoll Medical, the new AMA Category III CPT code for SSO2 therapy was supported by the leadership of the Society for Cardiovascular Angiography and Interventions and the American College of Cardiology. The decision was based on a review of published, peer-reviewed literature, the need for an accurate national code for physicians to use in reporting SSO2, and the importance of SSO2 as an emerging, innovative technology.

CPT codes are granted by the AMA CPT Editorial Panel and are widely used by government payers (including Medicare and Medicaid) and commercial health plans to process claims and determine reimbursement for health care services and procedures, advised the company.

Zoll Medical’s FDA-approved SSO2 therapy is indicated for patients with LAD STEMI who are treated within 6 hours of symptom onset. The therapy delivers high levels of dissolved oxygen at seven to ten times the normal amount directly to the damaged heart muscle immediately after the coronary artery has been successfully opened via angioplasty and stenting. It has been clinically proven to significantly reduce cardiac muscle damage in heart attack patients after coronary angioplasty with stenting, stated the company.