Effective January 1, 2013, there were significant changes to Current Procedural Terminology (CPT) codes for psychiatry and psychotherapy services. The CPT code set is defined by the American Medical Association (AMA) and describes procedures and services by physicians and other health care professionals.
Some of the major changes include:
- Removal of evaluation and management (E/M) plus psychotherapy combination codes from the psychiatry section (90805, 90807)
- Deletion of 90862, the code for pharmacologic management (providers to use appropriate E/M code)
- Addition of code 90785 for interactive complexity
- New codes and time intervals for psychotherapy
- New code for psychotherapy for a patient in crisis
Many of these changes impact billing, contracts, work flow, and compliance protocols. The National Council for Community Behavioral Healthcare has created a number of resources for Community Health Centers including a free PDF containing answers to frequently asked questions. Click here to download the PDF.
For more information and resources please visit www.thenationalcouncil.org or contact the National Council by email at ninam@thenationalcouncil.org.