New Category III codes for July 2026

Q: What are the new Category III codes relevant to interventional radiology?  

A: There are two new Category III codes that are relevant to interventional radiology that were released to the AMA website and will be effective July 1, 2026.

1037T: Histotripsy (i.e., non-thermal ablation via acoustic energy delivery) of malignant pancreatic tissue, including imaging guidance

• There are existing Category III code for histotripsy of malignant hepatocellular tissue (0686T) and for malignant renal tissue (0888T). Histotripsy uses a non-thermal mechanical process of focused ultrasound via acoustic energy delivery to destroy tissue.

1030T–1035T: Surface Mesh Representations and Applications: Digital 3D Modeling and Analysis

• 1030T: Creation of digital 3D model from surface mesh files of patient-specific anatomy (e.g., final anatomic representation [FAR]), cumulative time for up to 30 days; initial 30 minutes
  • +1031T: Each additional 30 minutes (List separately in addition to code for primary procedure)
• 1032T: Creation of digital 3D model from surface mesh files of patient-specific anatomy (e.g., final anatomic representation [FAR]) and digital simulation, cumulative time for up to 30 days; initial 60 minutes
  • +1033T: Each additional 30 minutes (List separately in addition to code for primary procedure)
• 1034T: Creation of digital 3D model from surface mesh files of patient-specific anatomy (e.g., final anatomic representation [FAR]), digital simulation and computational analyses (e.g., computational fluid dynamics, finite element analysis), cumulative time for up to 30 days; initial 90 minutes
  • +1035T: Each additional 30 minutes (List separately in addition to code for primary procedure)

Surface mesh files are derived from volumetric medical imaging repurposed out of traditional digital imaging and communication in medicine (DICOM) format. Surface mesh files can then be transformed into clinically relevant digital 3D models, which can remain digital or be printed. Digital 3D models, referred to as “final anatomic representations (FAR), can be modified and/or manipulated to improve clinical utility and can also be used for computational analyses, such as fluid dynamics and finite element analyses.

The process of creating digital 3D models typically involves a team which is led by an interpreting/supervising physician or other qualified health care professional (QHP) and includes trained clinical staff such as technologists and engineers. The reported times reflected include the time of the interpreting/supervising physician or other QHP spent creating/refining the digital 3D model, creating/refining the digital simulation (when performed) and computational analyses (when performed). Any time spent interacting with the digital 3D model for the purposes of preprocedural planning should not be reported.  

With the introduction of the surface mesh codes 1030T–1035T, the parentheticals for existing Category III code for 3D contour simulation of target liver lesion(s) and margin(s) for image-guided percutaneous microwave ablation, 094TT, was modified. Now, do not report codes 1030T–1035T in conjunction with 0944T.

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