Neurology & Pain Management Coding Alert

Question: How should I code central evoked motor studies?


California Subscriber

Answer: For 2005, CPT added two new codes to describe central motor evoked potential (EP) studies: 95928 (Central motor evoked potential study [transcranial motor stimulation]; upper limbs) and 95929 (... lower limbs). The new codes join previously listed EP procedures 92585/92586 (auditory EPs), 95925-95927 (somatosensory EPs), and 95930 (visual EP).

The new codes describe testing of the motor pathway centrally from the cortex through the spine and on to the peripheral muscle. Motor EP differs from the sensory, or SEP codes, which allow interpretation of the sensory tracts and sensory cortical responses.

You should report a single unit of 95928/95929 for any and all sites that the neurologist tests during a single session. The codes are bilateral.

For example, if the neurologist tests a total of four sites on the upper limbs (two on the right arm and two on the left arm), you would report 95928.