CVRx, the company behind the Barostim baroreflex activation therapy system, recently announced that the American Medical Association (AMA) has accepted new Current Procedural Terminology (CPT) Category I codes for the device, which treats the symptoms of heart failure.
The decision to accept the application for Category I codes for Barostim therapy will help further facilitate reimbursement for healthcare providers performing the procedure and enable broader patient access, according to CVRx.
The company credited the lead taken by the Society for Vascular Surgery (SVS), and the support of the American College of Cardiology (ACC) and others, in the application effort. The codes are expected to be implemented on January 1, 2026. In the interim, U.S. hospitals and physicians performing Barostim procedures should continue to utilize the existing Category III codes, CVRx added.
Barostim therapy—an implantable device that delivers electrical pulses to baroreceptors located in the wall of the carotid artery and designed to restore balance to the autonomic nervous system, thereby reducing the symptoms of heart failure—is the first medical technology approved by Food and Drug Administration (FDA) that uses neuromodulation to improve the symptoms of heart failure.
The procedure is FDA-approved for use in heart failure patients in the U.S. and has also received CE Mark for heart failure and resistant hypertension in the European Economic Area.
