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CMS announces payment for counseling patients on self-isolation

| August 4, 2020

CMS announces payment for counseling patients on self-isolation

Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) encourages providers to counsel patients to self-isolate at the time patients are tested for COVID-19.

COVID-19 counseling services should cover topics on the CMS COVID Counseling Checklist and are now covered by Medicare. Providers should use existing evaluation and management codes to bill these services. As a reminder, when providers spend more than 50% of the face-to-face time for outpatient services providing counseling, they should use time to select the level of visit reported. For additional information, view pages 7 through 9 of the CMS MLN Matters article on Medicare’s response to the PHE on COVID-19.

Here’s a breakdown of the E/M codes look like based on time:

New Patient visit Typical time (minutes) Established Patient Visit Typical Time (minutes)
99201 10 99211 5
99202 20 99212 10
99203 30 99213 15
99204 45 99214 25
99205 60 99215 40

 

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