CPT Code establishes a standard reimbursement pathway for the EchoSure System effective July 1, 2024
BALTIMORE, Md., Oct. 30, 2023 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ — Sonavex, Inc., a privately held medical device company with ultrasound technologies that deliver quantitative blood flow and other critical vascular data at the point of care, is pleased to announce that the American Medical Association (AMA) has issued a new Current Procedural Terminology (CPT) code for the use of its EchoSure platform to assess arteriovenous fistulae (AVF). The AMA released this information in the October 2023 Summary of Panel Actions from the September CPT Editorial Panel Meeting. The new code is expected to become effective July 1, 2024. The AMA will publish the description and specific procedure code on January 1, 2024.
The AMA CPT Editorial Panel grants and maintains CPT codes, which provide a standard nomenclature for coding medical procedures and services. Providers utilize these codes to report medical services and procedures to Medicare and commercial health plans for reimbursement. The release of this new CPT code represents a significant milestone in Sonavex’s market access and reimbursement strategy.
EchoSure is an automated, 3D Duplex ultrasound system designed to allow any member of the care team to collect AVF volume flow, diameter and depth information. These parameters are essential for the management of AVF patients. There are millions of patients worldwide with End-Stage Renal Disease (ESRD) that require dialysis to sustain life. The majority of these patients rely on a central venous catheter (CVC) for their dialysis access while they wait for an AVF to mature. Patients with CVCs experience a high incidence of bloodstream infections resulting in hospitalizations and suffer a multiple-fold increase in mortality risk compared to patients with AVFs. Currently, it often takes several months for AVFs to reach maturation due to the challenges and delays associated with collecting routine ultrasound measurements to confirm AVF functionality or identify a problem. Existing ultrasound solutions require experts such as Registered Vascular Technologists (RVTs) or physicians to operate the devices, which reduces patient access and unnecessarily elongates dangerous catheter dependency. By empowering members of the care team who routinely care for dialysis patients to collect this essential information, EchoSure facilitates early decision-making to remove the catheter at the earliest possible time.
“The use of ultrasound to assess fistula maturation during existing patient touchpoints holds great promise to improve patient outcomes, but its availability has been limited by the specialized skill set required to operate conventional ultrasound,” said David Narrow, Chief Executive Officer of Sonavex. “We appreciate the AMA adding this new code to capture the differentiated EchoSure technology and we are incredibly grateful for the support from the Renal Physicians Association (RPA) throughout the process.”
About Sonavex, Inc.
Sonavex, Inc. is a Baltimore-based medical device company originally spun out of Johns Hopkins. The company has developed a portfolio of novel ultrasound solutions that empower patient care by delivering critical visual and quantitative data to improve outcomes and reduce costs. For more information, please visit www.sonavex.com.
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Sonavex, Inc.
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Phone: (443) 862-2020
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Ralph Del Negro, Sonavex, Inc., 1 7324258549, [email protected]
SOURCE Sonavex, Inc.
