Once claims are verified as received, it’s time to hurry up and wait until payment. Often processing takes two to three weeks after receipt of the claims, plus the time to mail checks. It is your duty, as demanded by submitting any insurance claim, to submit the most accurate diagnosis you possibly can for each session. We cannot and will not advice you to use a single diagnosis code, even though it is a very common practice for therapists to use one code for all of their patients (e.g. anxiety or depression).

However, regardless of the services you provide, it’s always a good idea to check that your patient is covered for the mental health services they need. Performing a VOB can also help you determine the amount that your patient’s insurance company will pay for the services they are seeking. To do this, you can call the patient’s insurance company provider mental health billing using their account number to get a better idea of their benefits. As mentioned above, the verification of benefits (VOB) is important to confirm a patient’s insurance coverage and the service they intend to receive. In this process, you can check your patient’s policy for information that won’t often be directly on their insurance card.

Transforming Healthcare: Remote Patient Monitoring and Chronic Care Management

Common modifiers range from a discontinued procedure to service expectations not being met. The UD modifier is specific to Missouri and is used to identify mental health services provided by Licensed Professional Counselors (LPCs). It is a state-specific modifier required for billing purposes in Missouri. The HJ modifier is used to indicate that the mental health services were provided as part of an Employee Assistance Program (EAP). EAPs are employer-sponsored programs that offer counseling and support services to employees and their families. Using this modifier helps in distinguishing EAP visits from other mental health services.

• A billing service such as TheraThink can help to determine by asking the insurance company if HE is required when you file a claim.
• Currently, we represent 6 organizations which offer 62 products in your area.
• Psychologists have undergone extensive education and training in psychology and are qualified to provide a wide range of mental health services, including assessment, diagnosis, and therapy.
• If you’ve mailed in claims, wait 4 weeks to call and verify claims are received.
• Insurance companies will sometimes request that modifiers be included in addition to the CPT codes.
• A billing specialist like TheraThink can help to ensure this is done correctly.
• In addition, it would be a time-consuming hassle to fix the mistake and ensure that the patient is receiving an accurate, automatic diagnosis code for insurance billing and mental health services.

All mental health professionals who deliver psychotherapy services, including psychologists, psychiatrists, nurses, and social workers, use the same applicable CPT codes. Call the insurance company to ask, or work our mental health billing service to handle multiple mental health claims billed in the same day among other unique billing situations. Ensuring that all components of mental health billing are accurate and on time can be challenging. With ICANotes, you can worry less about getting your documentation right and spend more time with your patients. We offer a solution to the many complexities in the healthcare environment that make your job more difficult. ICANotes is the premier EHR for behavioral health specialty, and we work with all clinical disciplines to deliver an intuitive charting solution for your practice.

Reminder: Unlicensed Interns, Residents and Foreign Physicians in Training Programs as Prescribers

However you end up doing them, you need to transcribe this information onto a CMS1500 form and send it electronically or physically to the insurance company. Billing codes generally don’t change very often, so the code you’ve been using may likely still be relevant. The codes have recently been updated to reflect changes made in the field of psychiatry. Subsequent to the patient’s reassuring response, the psychologist follows up online regarding use of cognitive/behavioral techniques the patient has been previously taught and instructs patient to use these techniques.