Pediatric Coding Alert

Reader Question:

Note These Key Speech Therapy Code Differences

Question: When should we use the speech therapy code 92507 versus the cognitive skills code 97532? We used to always report 92507 for speech therapy but our new office manager said that this is a cognitive skill, so we can use 97532 instead. Can you advise?

New Jersey Subscriber

Answer: You should ask yourself whether your therapist is addressing specific cognitive skills, which could fall under 97532 (Development of cognitive skills to improve attention, memory, problem solving [includes compensatory training], direct [one-on-one] patient contact, each 15 minutes). If not, standard speech therapy should be reported with 92507 (Treatment of speech, language, voice, communication, and/or auditory processing disorder; individual).

In most cases, speech therapists in pediatric offices will be reporting 92507. The cognitive skills code would be more appropriate for patients who need to work on skills like how to re-learn saying certain words after suffering a traumatic brain injury.