What are the guidelines for billing 99401?
Asked by: Claude Romaguera DVM | Last update: February 27, 2025Score: 4.8/5 (64 votes)
What is CPT code 99401 billing guidelines?
Code 99401 is described as preventive counseling of approximately 15 minutes and can be reported for 8-22 minutes of counseling by a physician or other qualified health care professional. See 99402-99404 for services of 23 minutes or more.
Does time need to be documented for 99401?
The midpoint rule for time-based services applies to codes 99401–99404. At least 8 minutes of preventive medicine counseling is required to report code 99401 (services past the midpoint of 7.5 minutes). Times required for these codes are shown in the Table. Code and Time in Descriptor.
What are the requirements to bill a consult code?
A consultation code may be billed out for an established patient as long as the criteria for a consultation code are met. There must be a notation in the patient's medical record that consultation was requested and a notation in the patient's medical record that a written report was sent to the requesting physician.
Can you bill 99401 with modifier 25?
It is also possible to bill 99401 with modifier 25 on the same day as an EM code, if COVID vaccine counseling is provided. OIC Answer: Yes, a vaccine counseling code can be billed on the same day as a vaccine administration code is billed.
Billing Obesity Behavioral Using CPT Code 99401, 99402, 99403, 99404, 99405, 99411, 99412
How do I bill 99214 and 99401 together?
CPT 99401 should be utilized for preventive counseling specifically related to obesity management, while CPT 99214 covers the office visit with moderate medical decision-making. It's crucial to document the preventive counseling separately from the office visit to justify billing both codes.
When should a 25 modifier be used?
Modifier 25 is used to indicate that a patient's condition required a significant, separately identifiable evaluation and management (E/M) service above and beyond that associated with another procedure or service being reported by the same physician or other qualified health care professional (QHP) on the same date.
What are the three R's that are needed to bill a consultation?
In a simplistic view, payers expect consultation services to be part of a process that starts when a physician requests a consult, a physician renders a service, and the consultant returns to the initial physician to give a reply in the form of opinion or advice.
Can nurse practitioners bill consultation codes?
Physicians and qualified non-physician practitioners shall code consultation visits as patient evaluation and management visits utilizing the CPT Evaluation and Management codes that represent where the visit occurs and that identify the complexity of the visit performed. CPT consultation codes shall not be utilized.
Can you bill a consult on the same day as surgery?
The examination must be the first time surgery was recommended and must be performed within 24 hours of the surgery. If a patient returns for a quick checkup before surgery, the visit would not be separately reimbursable. Append modifier 57 to the office visit code, not the surgery code.
Can I bill 99213 and 99401 together?
99213-25 Office or other outpatient visit for the E/M of an established patient, requiring straightforward medical decision-making. 99401 Preventive medicine counseling provided to an individual; approximately 15 minutes. Coding Tip: Modifier 25 is required on 99213 to report codes 99213 and 99401 together.
How to bill for telephone visits?
Billing and Coding
Use modifier -93 for the reporting of medical services that are provided via real-time interaction between the physician or other qualified health care professional (QHP) and a patient through audio-only technology.
What is the 33 modifier used for?
Current Procedural Terminology (CPT) modifier 33 can be used when billing for ACA-designated preventive services with a commercial payer. The addition of modifier 33 communicates to a commercial payer that a given service was provided as an ACA preventive service.
How do you bill preventive visits with an office visit?
Can Office and Preventive Visits be Billed Together? The short answer is yes. CPT® codes 99381-99397 are used for comprehensive preventive evaluations that are age-specific, beginning with infancy and ranging through patients 65 years and older, for both new and established patients.
What is required for a CPT code to be considered medically necessary?
Medical Necessity - Rehabilitation
Services must be under accepted standards of medical practice and considered to be specific and effective treatment for the patient's condition. The amount, frequency, and duration of the services planned and provided must be reasonable.
Where can I find CPT guidelines?
Visit the AMA Store for coding resources from the authoritative source on the CPT code set. You'll find print and digital versions of the codebook, online coding subscriptions, data products and the CPT Network.
How to bill for nurse practitioners?
- You may: Use your NPI and specialty code 42 to bill your services. ...
- To bill for incident to services: Use your NPI, if you're a supervising physician or nonphysician practitioner. ...
- Use billing modifier 52 (reduced services) to report the billing provider didn't provide all covered global services.
When to bill a consultation code?
Consultation codes are only appropriate if the patient is referred by another provider for consultation; otherwise, new or established patient codes are used.
What is the difference between APRN and NP?
The primary difference for NPs vs. APRNs lie in their specialty focus. APRNs deliver a particular type of care in a role such as CNA, CNM, CNS, or NP. Nurse practitioners focus on particular patient types, such as family practice and neonatal populations.
What are the three required components for billing a consultation?
- Request for your surgeon's opinion, which includes the reason for the consultation.
- Rendering the service in order to develop an opinion (the consult visit)
- Reporting back to the requesting clinician with the opinion.
What is modifier 59 in medical billing?
The CPT Manual defines modifier 59 as: “Distinct Procedural Service: Under certain circumstances, it may be necessary to indicate that a. procedure or service was distinct or independent from other non-E/M (Evaluation/Management) services.
What documentation is required for a consultation?
A consultation requires the written or verbal request for consult may be made by a physician or other appropriate source and documented in the patient's medical record by either the consulting or requesting physician or appropriate source.
Can you bill both modifier 25 and 57 together?
Both Major and Minor Surgeries on the Same Day When a decision for surgery includes both major and minor surgeries and is made the day of surgery, the E&M billed for the decision must have both modifier –57 and modifier –25 appended.
What is modifier 51 used for?
Modifier 51 Multiple Procedures indicates that multiple procedures were performed at the same session. It applies to: Different procedures performed at the same session. A single procedure performed multiple times at different sites.