Zebra Medical Vision, Kubbutz Shefayim, Israel, announces approval of a Category III Current Procedural Terminology (CPT) code application for utilizing AI for VCF detection as an incidental finding in chest CT, by the American Medical Association (AMA). This is the first artificial intelligence CPT code specific to radiology, and was scheduled to be released on July 1 this year on the AMA’s website, becoming effective January 1, 2022.

The new CPT III code was submitted to the AMA’s CPT Editorial Panel by the American College of Radiology, the Radiological Society of North America, the American Roentgen Ray Society, and the Association of University Radiology.

Nearly 50% of all women and a quarter of men over the age of 50 will suffer an osteoporotic fracture in their lifetime, with 2 million cases of broken bones in the U.S. alone each year. Moreover, these fractures cost an estimated $52 billion annually in the U.S., according to the National Osteoporosis Foundation (NOF), and 75% of them go undetected. Zebra Medical Vision’s VCF solution substantially increases detection rates, raising the number of patients eligible for treatment, without the need for additional staff, imaging, or radiation.

Sites that run fracture-prevention programs or population-management programs use Zebra Medical Vision to systematically onboard patients to these programs and initiate further examinations and treatment. The code approved by the AMA will allow clinics to code for this AI application and help them identify more patients for potential osteooporotic fractures.

Zebra Medical Vision’s FDA- and CE-cleared VCF solution, which enables radiologists to diagnose vertebral fractures more confidently and quickly for increased detection of osteoporosis, would be coded under the latest approved CPT code proposal as the only FDA-cleared VCF product for AI in medical imaging on the market.

“The latest development regarding the CPT code approval by the AMA is an industry milestone in the effort to boost the adoption of AI in imaging for VCFs, and other underdiagnosed chronic conditions for which AI can help reveal and drive care,” says Zohar Elhanani, CEO of Zebra Medical Vision. “Backed by such a major endorsement from the CPT panel and Zebra Medical Vision’s technology, radiologists will now be able to identify more patients with undiagnosed fractures and provide better care for patients who may be vulnerable.”

Featured image: Zebra Medical Vision