Urology Coding Alert

Refresh Your +99417 Understanding

For 2023, CPT^® removes the words “beyond the minimum required time” from the descriptor for +99417, which now reads Prolonged outpatient evaluation and management service(s) time with or without direct patient contact beyond the required time of the primary service when the primary service level has been selected using total time, each 15 minutes of total time (List separately in addition to the code of the outpatient Evaluation and Management service).

Fortunately, though, the guidelines for using the code remain the same. CPT^® instructs you to use +99417 when service times for 99205 (Office or other outpatient visit for the evaluation and management of a new patient … 60-74 minutes of total time is spent on the date of the encounter) or 99215 (Office or other outpatient visit for the evaluation and management of an established patient … 40-54 minutes of total time is spent on the date of the encounter) go 15 minutes beyond the minimum for the 99205/99215 time ranges — 75 minutes for a new patient visit and 55 for an established patient — and additional units for every 15 minutes beyond those times.

Then Note These New +99417 CPT^® Updates

For 2023, CPT^® also deletes prolonged service codes +99354 and +99355. In their place, you’ll now use +99417, as CPT^® has increased its scope. You’ll now be allowed to use it to report prolonged services with:

• 99245 (Office or other outpatient consultation for a new or established patient …) when the time meets or exceeds 55 minutes
• 99345/99350 (Home or residence visit for the evaluation and management of a new/established patient …) when the times meet or exceed 75 or 60 minutes, respectively
• 99483 (Assessment of and care planning for a patient with cognitive impairment …) when the service goes beyond its typical time of 50 minutes

And Add This New CPT^® Prolonged Service Code

CPT^® also deletes prolonged service codes +99356 and +99357 for 2023 and introduces another code: +99418 (Prolonged inpatient or observation evaluation and management service(s) time with or without direct patient contact beyond the required time of the primary service when the primary service level has been selected using total time, each 15 minutes of total time …), which had been previously given the placeholder code of 993X0.

In addition to the highest level initial and subsequent nursing facility care evaluation and management (E/M) codes 99306 and 99310, you’ll use +99418 with the following revised codes:

• 99223 (Initial hospital inpatient or observation care … 75 minutes must be met or exceeded)
• 99233 (Subsequent hospital inpatient or observation care … 50 minutes must be met or exceeded)
• 99236 (Hospital inpatient or observation care … 85 minutes must be met or exceeded)
• 99255 (Inpatient or observation consultation … 80 minutes must be met or exceeded)

Master G Codes for Medicare Patient Prolonged Services

In the 2021 final rule, CMS argued that you should use +99417 when the total time for visits hits 15 minutes beyond the maximum time range for 99205 (i.e., 89 minutes) and 99215 (i.e., 69 minutes). To avoid potential confusion with CPT^® guidelines, CMS created a new prolonged service code, recognized by Medicare and payers following Medicare payment rules, to take its place: G2212 (Prolonged office or other outpatient evaluation and management service(s) beyond the maximum required time of the primary procedure which has been selected using total time on the date of the primary service; each additional 15 minutes by the physician or qualified healthcare professional, with or without direct patient contact …).

For the 2023 final rule, CMS has taken a similar view of +99418, believing that the billing instructions for the code “would lead to administrative complexity, potentially duplicative payments, and limit our ability to determine how

much time was spent with the patient using claims data.” In its place, they have introduced three more G codes:

• G0316 (Prolonged hospital inpatient or observation care evaluation and management service(s) beyond the total time for the primary service … each additional 15 minutes …) for prolonged inpatient or observation E/M service codes 99223, 99233, and 99236. “This code could be used by urologists generally during a discussion about treatment of different types of urinary cancer and other diseases,” says Stephanie Stinchcomb Storck, CPC, CPMA, CCS-P, ACS-UR, longtime urology coder and consultant in Glen Burnie, Maryland. “The discussions are extensive so the use of this code is likely.”
• G0317 (Prolonged nursing facility evaluation and management service(s) beyond the total time for the primary service … each additional 15 minutes by the physician or qualified healthcare professional …) for prolonged nursing facility E/M service codes 99306 and 99310.
• G0318 (Prolonged home or residence evaluation and management service(s) beyond the total time for the primary service … each additional 15 minutes …) for prolonged home or residence E/M service codes 99345 and 99350.

Tool help: See the Clip and Save table on page 4 for specific advice for coding prolonged services in 2023 based on your payer.