90832 CPT Code: Know Your Codes

June 10, 2020Behavioral HealthPsychiatry and Psychology Services

90832 CPT Code Basics

90832 CPT Code Description: Individual psychotherapy, insight-oriented, behavior modifying and/or supportive, 30 minutes with the patient and/or family member (time range 16-37 minutes). 90832 CPT Code is an insurance billing procedure code describing individual psychotherapy services rendered for 30 minutes by a licensed mental health provider. Insurance companies require coders, billers, or therapists to use CPT Code 90832 for 30-minute routine outpatient therapy appointments.  Appointments billed as 90832 may also include an additional family member or caregiver.

90832 CPT Code Time Length

Procedure code 90832 is defined as a session of 30 minutes.  Medicare advises not to bill for sessions less than 16 minutes in length. 

CPT Codes 90832 vs. 90834 vs. 90837

The only difference between CPT Code 90832 (the other commonly used CPT code) and 90834 or 90837 is the time of the psychotherapy session. Not every therapist does sessions at these exact time intervals.

License Level Requirements

License Level Requirements for billing CPT Code 90832 for 30 minute individual psychotherapy sessions:

• Licensed Clinical Social Workers (LCSW)
• Licensed Professional Counselors (LPC)
• Licensed Marriage Family Therapist (LMFT)
• Clinical Psychologists (PsyD or Ph.D.)
• Psychiatrists (MD)

Billing for Longer Sessions

 If the session is longer, bill 90834 or 90837.  Sessions longer than 60 minutes should be billed as 90837 with add-on code(s).

90832 CPT Code Authorization

Not typically. 90832 is a routine procedure code (90834 and 90837 are too). As a result, it does not normally require authorization.

90832 CPT Code Reimbursement Rates

90832 always reimburses less than 90834 and 90837, but the similar per unit of time. This is usually around 75% of the 90834 reimbursement rate and around 50% of 90837. Most providers find it works better for them to do fewer, but longer sessions, although some do opt for a higher number of shorter sessions.

CPT Code 90832 Reimbursement Rates (2020, Medicare): $71.10

CPT Code 90832 Billing Frequently

No. Most therapists typically have longer sessions than 30 minutes. In our experience as billers for mental health professionals, CPT codes 90834 and 90837 are billed far more frequently than 90832.

Medicare and Medicaid Approval

Medicare considers this routine. If you are an approved Medicare provider you can bill this code. Generally, yes. Medicaid companies do often have a lot of requirements that vary by state and company. We strongly recommend calling beforehand. This is where a professional billing service, such as E2E Medical Billing Services can help.

Add-On Codes

For providers eligible to bill E/M (Evaluation & Management) services, they can bill 90833 with 90832. Each of the routine psychotherapy codes has an add-on E/M code.

• +90833 – Use add-on code for Individual psychotherapy, insight-oriented, behavior modifying and/or supportive, 30 minutes with the patient and/or family member (time range 16-37 minutes), when performed with an evaluation and management service.
• +90785 – Use the add-on code with 90832, +90833, 90834, +90836, 90837, and +90838 for interactive psychotherapy using play equipment, physical devices, language interpreter, or other mechanisms of communication.

Interactive Complexity

The Interactive Complexity add-on code (90875) describes 4 specific communication factors that complicate a psychiatric service thus requiring greater technical skill, mental effort, and judgment, (i.e., greater work). Typically, these factors are present with third party involvement during the service/procedure (e.g., minors with parents or guardians, adults with guardians, or patients who request that others be involved in their care during the visit).

Interactive complexity may be reported with: psychiatric diagnostic evaluation (90791, 90792), psychotherapy (90832, 90834, 90837), psychotherapy add-on services performed with an evaluation and management service (90833, 90836, 90838), and group psychotherapy (90853). Add-on 90875 may not be reported with E/M Services alone, but rather only when an E/M service is combined with psychotherapy. This code may not be reported with family psychotherapy (90846, 90847, 90849) and psychotherapy for crisis (90839, 90840).

CPT © Copyright 2021 American Medical Association

For accurate Mental/Behavioral Health medical billing, knowing your CPT codes is the most important thing. In our blog series of ‘Know Your Codes’ or ‘KYC,’ we have discussed the most common CPT codes in detail and when to use them. E2E Medical Billing Services is known for its accurate Mental/Behavioral Health medical billing and coding. To know more about our services call us at 888-552-1290 or write to us at info@e2eMedicalBilling.com