AMA Study on Impact of E/M Changes

by  Wyn Staheli, Director of Content - innoviHealth
May 4th, 2026

Significant changes to the office and outpatient Evaluation and Management (E/M) CPT codes (99201-99215) took place in 2021. In 2023, those changes were applied to many other E/M service codes. In 2025, the American Medical Association (AMA) published the results of a study aimed at seeing just how impactful those changes were.

“Major changes included eliminating history of present illness, physical exam and review of systems as required elements in CPT code-level selection.” The AMA surveyed a variety of providers from differing specialties and asked them if it made a difference to spend less time and effort trying to appropriately document review of systems and history of present illness/physical exam and instead keep the focus on “medically appropriate” information.

While it is still necessary to document “medically appropriate history and/or examination,” keeping the medical record focused on medical decision making instead of checking off boxes to meet the previous requirements (e.g., review of systems) did make an impact on perceived provider administrative burdens.

In an article published by the AMA, one of the researchers, Linsey E. Carlasare, said “that the perceived reduction in the time spent on clinically irrelevant documentation might also be a meaningful indication that the change in the regulations actually achieved its intent.”