Primary Care Coding Alert

Question: Is it alright to use time to select an E/M code even if the other service or procedure code isn’t time-based?

New York Subscriber

Answer: Yes. You may use time as the key factor for reporting an E/M code, even if it is appended with modifier 25 (Significant, separately identifiable evaluation and management service by the same physician or other qualified health care professional on the same day of the procedure or other service).

Catch: Counseling and/or coordination of care must constitute more than 50 percent of the face-to-face time your FP spends addressing the problem with the patient during the E/M service.

Example: A mother brings her 9-year-old son in for an established patient preventive medicine service. During the visit, the mother asks about switching her child from Ritalin to Concerta to control his attention deficit disorder symptoms and requests advice about handling his behavior at home and school.

Your FP completes a preventive medicine visit and spends 10 minutes performing an ADD-specific expanded problem-focused history, expanded problem-focused examination and low- complexity medical decision-making in which he decides to change the child’s prescription. He then counsels the mother on ADD-medication treatment options, follow-up, and home and school discipline issues for 15 minutes.

In addition to the preventive medicine visit (99393), you can use time as the controlling factor and report 99214-25 (10 exam minutes + 15 counseling minutes = 25 total minutes), with over 50 percent of the face-to-face time spent counseling and coordinating care.

The fact that 99393 (Periodic comprehensive preventive medicine reevaluation and management of an individual ...; late childhood [age 5 through 11 years]) is not a time-based code does not affect your ability to use time when selecting the E/M problem-related code.