Specialty Billing

Psychiatry Billing Services

Psychiatry billing is not therapist billing. E/M visits with psychotherapy add-ons, medication management, evaluations with medical services, and TMS each carry same-visit rules payers audit closely. MedTaskly codes every combination correctly so your practice is paid fully and fast.

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Quick Answer

How is psychiatry billing different from therapy billing?

Psychiatry billing combines medical evaluation and management with psychotherapy in one visit, which therapist billing never does. A psychiatrist bills an E/M code (99212-99215) plus a psychotherapy add-on (90833, 90836, or 90838) selected by therapy time alone, and initial evaluations with medical services use 90792. Correct pairing and documentation of both components is what determines payment.

Why It Matters

Psychiatrists lose revenue when E/M and therapy are not billed together correctly

The add-on codes are where psychiatry practices under-collect.

Psychiatric visits are two services in one: the medical evaluation and management of medication, and the psychotherapy delivered in the same session. Payers require the E/M level (99212-99215) to be chosen by medical decision making, while the psychotherapy add-on (90833, 90836, or 90838) is chosen by therapy time, documented separately. Practices that bill only one component, or select the add-on by total visit time, leave money on the table at nearly every encounter or invite audits.

Initial evaluations bring their own rules: 90792 covers a psychiatric diagnostic evaluation with medical services, distinct from the therapist's 90791. Add TMS (90867-90869), long-acting injectable administration, telepsychiatry place-of-service rules, and prior authorizations for newer medications, and psychiatry billing demands a specialist. MedTaskly's psychiatry billers maintain a 98% clean-claim rate, capturing both the medical and therapy components of every visit.

What We Handle

End-to-end psychiatry billing revenue cycle

E/M plus add-on coding
Correct pairing of 99212-99215 with psychotherapy add-ons 90833, 90836, and 90838, documented by time and MDM separately.
Diagnostic evaluation billing
90792 psychiatric evaluations with medical services coded and reimbursed at their full value.
Medication management
Clean claims for med-check visits, long-acting injectables, and J-code drug billing with units and wastage.
TMS and interventional psychiatry
Accurate 90867-90869 TMS billing with payer-specific prior authorization handled end to end.
Telepsychiatry billing
Correct place-of-service codes and modifiers for virtual psychiatric care across payers.
Denials and credentialing
Appeals for same-visit component denials, plus payer enrollment for psychiatrists and psychiatric NPs.
FAQ

Psychiatry Billing Services — questions answered

What CPT codes do psychiatrists bill most often?
The core set is E/M codes 99212-99215 paired with psychotherapy add-on codes 90833 (30 minutes), 90836 (45 minutes), and 90838 (60 minutes), plus 90792 for initial psychiatric evaluations with medical services. TMS practices add 90867-90869. The add-on is selected by face-to-face therapy time, not total visit length.
Can a psychiatrist bill E/M and psychotherapy on the same visit?
Yes. That combination is the standard model for psychiatric care. The E/M level must be supported by medical decision making for medication management, and the psychotherapy add-on must document therapy time separately. Payers deny or downcode claims when one component's documentation is missing or the times overlap.
Why do psychiatry claims get denied?
The leading causes are psychotherapy add-ons billed without separately documented therapy time, E/M levels unsupported by medical decision making, missing prior authorizations for TMS or newer medications, and telepsychiatry place-of-service errors. Specialty-trained billing prevents each of these at the source.
Do you bill for psychiatric nurse practitioners?
Yes. MedTaskly credentials and bills for psychiatrists, psychiatric NPs, and physician assistants, applying correct incident-to and direct-billing rules by payer so every prescriber in your practice is enrolled and paid correctly.

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