Billing

Federally Qualified Health Centers Behavioral Health Claims Job Aid

Historically, FQHCs reported behavioral health with codes 90805, 90807 and 90809 with revenue code 0900. However, those codes terminated effective 12/31/2012. Effective 01/01/2013, new CPT codes 90833, 90836 and 90838 became effective as add-on codes to be used in conjunction with identified evaluation and management codes in local coverage determination (LCD)  policy L26895. According to the National Government Services Medical Policy Unit LCD 26895 does not apply to FQHCs.

Resolution

When the primary reason for a visit involves mental health or behavioral health services provided by a clinical psychologist, or clinical social worker they should continue to bill the CPT code that best represents the primary reason for the visit; for example, CPT code 90832, 90834 or 90837 might apply. As a reminder, documentation in the medical record should include all services provided during the visit.

Billing

The billing requirements remain the same for a mental health visit by a Medicare patient when he/she sees one of the core mental health practitioners. Submit a claim with one line that includes revenue code 0900, optional CPT code, and the appropriate diagnosis codes for the visit.

Related Content

The evaluation and management component of the visit is not separately billable in an FQHC setting. Reference the following Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) Internet-Only Manual (IOM) Publication 100-04, Medicare Claims Processing Manual, Chapter 9, Section 100 (200 KB) which states, “Only one visit is billed per day unless the patient leaves and later returns with a different illness or impairment suffered later on the same day (and medical records should support these cases). Units for visits are to be reported under revenue codes 052x or 0900.”

Also, reference the CMS IOM Publication 100-02, Medicare Benefit Policy Manual, Chapter 13, Section 40.3  (200 KB) which states, “Encounters with (1) more than one health professional; and (2) multiple encounters with the same health professional which take place on the same day and at a single location, constitute a single visit. An exception occurs in cases in which the patient, subsequent to the first encounter, suffers an illness or injury requiring additional diagnosis or treatment.”