Physicians specializing in preventing, diagnosing, and treating adult diseases carry out diagnostic and therapeutic interventions known as internal medicine operations. These include consultations, visits to emergency departments, wellness checks (psychiatric or nursing care), and tests for various typical health issues.
Medical professionals report medical services and procedures using the CPT codes to be reimbursed for their services. Depending on the individual operation being performed, internal medicine procedures might have a variety of distinct CPT codes.
This blog highlights the most common CPT codes for internal medicine billing & coding
List of the Important Internal Medicine CPT Codes
99202-99215: Office or other outpatient visit codes
Refers to a set of medical codes used for billing purposes concerning healthcare professionals’ evaluation and management (E/M) services. These codes indicate the complexity of the E/M service offered by the healthcare practitioner.
Each code in the 99202 to 99215 denotes a degree of complexity and participation in the E/M service. For low-complexity E/M service, for instance, 99202 is used for a low-complexity E/M service, and 99215 is used for a high-complexity E/M service.
The specific code used is determined by how well the practitioner documented the patient’s history, examination, and treatment choices. Accurate coding is crucial for correct billing and reimbursement and for tracking and assessing healthcare utilization and outcomes.
99242-99245: Consultation codes
When a physician or other qualified healthcare professional consults with a patient, the CPT codes 99242-99245 are reported as the services rendered by the consultant. Furthermore, when a referring physician or another provider of healthcare services requests an evaluation and management service for a particular clinical problem or query, these codes are often the ones that are used.
99252-99255: Inpatient consultation codes
Billing for services rendered by a physician or other competent healthcare professional who is asked to review and provide an opinion or advice regarding the treatment of a hospitalized patient can be accomplished using inpatient consultation codes, more precisely, codes 99252-99255. These codes are used to record the services rendered.
These codes are entered into the system when an attending or primary care physician asks a consulting physician for medical guidance.
99281-99285: Emergency department visit codes
Emergency department visits are reported in medical billing and coding using the 99281–99285 codes. These codes are unique to the emergency department’s patient evaluation and management services.
99281 is the code for a quick evaluation and management treatment during a minor emergency department visit. A low to moderate-severity visit that needs a more thorough examination and management service is coded as 99282. When a moderate-intensity visit necessitates a more detailed evaluation and management service, code 99283 is applied. When a high-severity visit necessitates an immediate evaluation and management service, code 99284 is utilized. A critical severity visit that needs quick assessment and management treatment is coded as 99285.
99304-99310: Nursing facility codes
The services offered at nursing facilities are denoted by the codes 99304–99310. Patients residing in a nursing facility have these codes applied to their medical records to describe the evaluation and treatment they receive.
When new patients enter a nursing home, they undergo an initial comprehensive examination using code 99304. Subsequent periodic assessments use codes 99305-99310. These codes represent the physician’s medical history analysis, physical exam, and care plan.
90791-90792: Psychiatric diagnostic evaluation codes
Psychiatric diagnostic assessment services, including those rendered by psychiatrists and other mental health specialists, are denoted by the CPT codes 90791 and 90792.
The initial psychiatric diagnostic evaluation, which usually includes a thorough review of the patient’s mental health history, present symptoms, and functional impairment, uses code 90791. Examining the patient’s mental state, a clinical interview, and reviewing their medical history are all possible components of this evaluation.
Subsequent psychiatric diagnostic assessments, which are often less thorough and concentrate on tracking progress, reevaluating diagnoses, and changing treatment plans as necessary, are performed using the code 90792.
The proper documentation and billing of psychiatric diagnostic evaluation services, crucial elements of mental healthcare, depend on both codes.
90832-90838: Psychotherapy codes
The psychotherapy codes 90832-90838 are a series of codes used in the healthcare billing industry to identify and bill for various types of psychotherapy treatments offered to patients. Mental health providers such as psychiatrists, psychologists, and social workers use these codes to bill patients for their services.
The codes shift depending on the nature of the psychotherapy session and its total duration. The code 90832 is used for billing for a 30-minute psychotherapy session, while the code 90838 is used for a 60-minute session that includes the patient’s family
90935-90937: Hemodialysis services codes
Hemodialysis is a process that involves withdrawing blood using an intraarterial or intravenous catheter, passing the blood over a semipermeable membrane to filter out any harmful substances, and then reinfusing the blood into the body. On the same day, a provider may execute hemodialysis, and the same provider may also perform an E/M service connected to the dialysis, also included in these codes.
93000-93010: Cardiography codes
The CPT codes 93000 to 93010 are used for diagnostic cardiography procedures. These codes include monitoring blood pressure when exercising or undergoing pharmacologic stress testing. Electrocardiograms (ECG or EKG), which record the heart’s electrical activity, are also included in this category.
The basic electrocardiogram, which must have at least 12 leads, is represented by the code 93000. The code 93005 is only used for the tracing and not for interpretation or report, while the code 93010 is used solely for performance and report.
Conclusion
In conclusion, internal medicine procedures are necessary for diagnosing and treating a wide variety of medical disorders. It is essential for medical professionals to correctly report these procedures using the correct CPT codes to earn adequate reimbursement for the services they perform. Healthcare practitioners may ensure accurate reporting and billing if they have a solid awareness of the operations that are typically performed in internal medicine and the CPT codes that are associated with them.