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CMS updates E/M services guide, including more information on prolonged services

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) recently updated its Evaluation and Management (E/M) Services Guide. The updates reflect changes to the hospital inpatient and observation care, home or residence, nursing facility, and emergency department (ED) E/M services that took effect earlier this year.

Beginning Jan. 1, CMS revised the documentation guidelines for E/M services in these settings to make them more like the 2021 updates to the office visit E/M guidelines. Under the new guidelines, clinicians can usually select the level of service using either medical decision making (MDM) or total time on the date of the encounter (the exception is ED services, which can only be selected based on MDM). As with office E/M, total time now includes both face-to-face and non-face-to-face time the physician or other qualified health care professional personally spends on the visit on the date of service. A medically appropriate history and physical exam should be performed and documented, but they are no longer used to determine the level of service.

In general, CMS aligns with the American Medical Association’s CPT E/M code descriptors and guidelines. However, a key difference between CMS and CPT is the time requirements for billing prolonged services. The new guide includes more information on how to code for prolonged services in the hospital/outpatient setting for Medicare patients as well as a table outlining the time thresholds for each prolonged service code. Although there were no updates to prolonged service codes for office/outpatient E/M services, they are also listed below for easy reference.

BILLING PROLONGED SERVICES - OTHER E/M VISITS

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Primary E/M service* Prolonged service code Time threshold Timeframe counted

Initial inpatient or observation visit (99223)

G0316

90 minutes

Date of visit

Subsequent inpatient or observation (99233)

G0316

65 minutes

Date of visit

 

Inpatient or observation same-day admission or discharge (99236)

G0316

110 minutes

Date of visit to 3 days after

Initial nursing facility visit (99306)

G0317

95 minutes

1 day before visit, date of visit, and 3 days after

Subsequent nursing facility visit (99310)

G0317

85 minutes

1 day before visit, date of visit, and 3 days after

New patient home or residence visit (99345)

G0318

140 minutes

3 days before visit, date of visit, and 7 days after

Established patient home or residence visit (99350)

G0318

110 minutes

3 days before visit, date of visit, and 7 days after

Cognitive assessment and care planning (99483)

G2212

100 minutes

3 days before visit, date of visit, and 7 days after

* Prolonged services can not be billed for emergency department visits, hospital or nursing facility discharge day management, or consults

BILLING PROLONGED SERVICES - OFFICE OR OUTPATIENT E/M VISITS

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Codes Total time required for reporting

99205 x 1 and G2212 x 1

89-103 minutes

99205 x 1 and G2212 x 2

104-118 minutes

99215 x 1 and G2212 x 1

69-83 minutes

99215 x 1 and G2212 x 2

84-98 minutes

99215 x 1 and G2212 x 3 or more for each additional 15 minutes

99 or more

The updated guide also includes details on billing for critical care, split/shared services, chronic pain management, and teaching physician services.

— Erin Solis, AAFP Manager of Practice & Payment

Posted on Sept. 12, 2023



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Disclaimer: The opinions and views expressed here are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent or reflect the opinions and views of the American Academy of Family Physicians. This blog is not intended to provide medical, financial, or legal advice. Some payers may not agree with the advice given. This is not a substitute for current CPT and ICD-9 manuals and payer policies. All comments are moderated and will be removed if they violate our Terms of Use.