As outlined in the February Coding Corner, Practicefirst will continue to provide information regarding the changes for the office visit E&M codes for the year 2021. The code descriptors of the office visit E&M will change due to the fact that the E&M will no longer be scored based on history and exam elements, and instead will focus on medical decision making or the documentation of time.
The proposed change as per AMA in the code descriptors for this code set is as follows:
99202 Office or other outpatient visit for the evaluation and management of a new patient, which requires a medically appropriate history and/or examination and straightforward medical decision making. When using time for code selection, 15–29 minutes of total time is spent on the date of the encounter.
99203 Office or other outpatient visit for the evaluation and management of a new patient, which requires a medically appropriate history and/or examination and low level of medical decision making. When using time for code selection, 30–44 minutes of total time is spent on the date of the encounter.
99204 Office or other outpatient visit for the evaluation and management of a new patient, which requires a medically appropriate history and/or examination and moderate level of medical decision making. When using time for code selection, 45–59 minutes of total time is spent on the date of the encounter.
99205 Office or other outpatient visit for the evaluation and management of a new patient, which requires a medically appropriate history and/or examination and high level of medical decision making. When using time for code selection, 60–74 minutes of total time is spent on the date of the encounter.
99211 Office or other outpatient visit for the evaluation and management of an established patient, that may not require the presence of a physician or other qualified health care professional. Usually, the presenting problem(s) are minimal.
99212 Office or other outpatient visit for the evaluation and management of an established patient, which requires a medically appropriate history and/or examination and straightforward medical decision making. When using time for code selection, 10–19 minutes of total time is spent on the date of the encounter.
99213 Office or other outpatient visit for the evaluation and management of an established patient, which requires a medically appropriate history and/or examination and low level of medical decision making. When using time for code selection, 20–29 minutes of total time is spent on the date of the encounter.
99214 Office or other outpatient visit for the evaluation and management of an established patient, which requires a medically appropriate history and/or examination and moderate level of medical decision making. When using time for code selection, 30–39 minutes of total time is spent on the date of the encounter.
99215 Office or other outpatient visit for the evaluation and management of an established patient, which requires a medically appropriate history and/or examination and high level of medical decision making. When using time for code selection, 40–54 minutes of total time is spent on the date of the encounter.
Practicefirst will continue to update our clients throughout the year as more information/guidance becomes available from AMA/CMS.
