(Medicare Claims Processing Manual)

For dates of service, on and after January 1, 2022, claims billed with a CQ or CO modifier to indicate the services were furnished in whole or in part by a PTA or OTA are paid at an amount equal to 85 percent of the otherwise applicable Part B payment that s based on the MPFS.  The 15 percent reduction is taken last, e.g., after the MPPR (and other reductions where applicable) and right before sequestration. This reduction is taken from the paid amount, i.e., the actual amount paid not the MPFS allowed amount.   Regulations for the payment of therapy claims and the policy for assigning the therapy assistant modifiers (CO and CQ) for services provided in whole or in part by OTAs and PTAs are found at  410.59(a)(4) and 410.60(a)(4) for outpatient occupational and physical therapy services, respectively and at  410.105(d) for CORF OT and PT services.    20.2 - Reporting of Service Units With HCPCS  (Rev. 3670, Issued: 12- 01-16, Effective: 01- 01-17, Implementation: 01- 03-17)  A.  General   Effective with claims submitted on or after April 1, 1998, providers billing on the ASC X12 837 institutional claim format or Form CMS -1450 were required to report the number of units for outpatient rehabilitation services based on the procedure or service, e.g., based on the H CPCS code reported instead of the revenue code.  This was already in effect for billing on the Form CMS -1500, and CORFs were required to report their full range of CORF services on the institutional claim.  These unit- reporting requirements continue with t he standards required for electronically submitting health care claims under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) -  the currently adopted version of the ASC X12 837 transaction standards and implementation guides.  The Administrative Simplification Compliance Act mandates that claims be sent to Medicare electronically unless certain exceptions are met.   B.  Timed and Untimed Codes   When reporting service units for HCPCS codes where the procedure is not defined by a specifi c timeframe (untimed HCPCS), the provider enters 1 in the field labeled units.  For timed codes, units are reported based on the number of times the procedure is performed, as described in the HCPCS code definition.  EXAMPLE:  A beneficiary received a speech -language pathology evaluation represented by HCPCS untimed code 92521.  Regardless of the number of minutes spent providing this service only one unit of service is appropriately billed on the same day.  Several CPT codes used for therapy modaliti es, procedures, and tests and measurements specify that the direct (one on one) time spent in patient contact is 15 minutes.  Providers report these timed procedure codes for services delivered on any single calendar day using CPT codes and the appropria te number of 15 minute units of service.     EXAMPLE:  A beneficiary received a total of 60 minutes of occupational therapy, e.g., HCPCS timed code 97530 which is defined in 15 minute units, on a given date of service.  The provider would then report 4 unit s of 97530.  C.  Counting Minutes for Timed Codes in 15 Minute Units   When only one service is provided in a day, providers should not bill for services performed for less than 8 minutes.  For any single timed CPT code in the same day measured in 15 minute  units, providers bill a single 15- minute unit for treatment greater than or equal to 8 minutes through and including 22 minutes.  If the duration of a single modality or procedure in a day is greater than or equal to 23 minutes, through and including 37 m inutes, then 2 units should be billed.  Time intervals for 1 through 8 units are as follows:   Units  Number of Minutes   1 unit:    8 minutes through 22 minutes   2 units:    23 minutes through 37 minutes   3 units:    38 minutes t hrough  52 minutes   4 units:    53 minutes t hrough 67 minutes   5 units:    68 minutes t hrough 82 minutes   6 units:    83 minutes t hrough 97 minutes   7 units:    98 minutes t hrough 112 minutes   8 units:    113 minutes t hrough 127 minutes   The pattern remains the same for treatment times in excess of 2 hours.   If a service represented by a 15 minute timed code is performed in a single day for at least 15 minutes, that service shall be billed for at least one unit.  If the service is performed for at least 30 minutes, that service sha ll be billed for at least two units, etc.  It is not appropriate to count all minutes of treatment in a day toward the units for one code if other services were performed for more than 15 minutes.  See examples 2 and 3 below.   When more than one service re presented by 15 minute timed codes is performed in a single day, the total number of minutes of service (as noted on the chart above) determines the number of timed units billed.  See example 1 below.    If any 15 minute  timed service that is performed for 7 minutes or less than 7 minutes on the same day as another 15 minute timed service that was also performed for 7 minutes or less and the total time of the two is 8 minutes or greater than 8 minutes, then bill one unit for the service performed for the most minutes.  This is correct because the total time is greater than the minimum time for one unit.  The same logic is applied when three or more different services are provided for 7 minutes or less than 7 minutes. See e xample 5 below.  The expectation (based on the work values for these codes) is that a providers direct patient contact time for each unit will average 15 minutes in length.  If a provider has a consistent practice of billing less than 15 minutes for a uni t, these situations should be highlighted for review.   If more than one 15 minute timed CPT code is billed during a single calendar day, then the total number of timed units that can be billed is constrained by the total treatment minutes for that day .  See all examples below.   Pub. 100- 02, Medicare Benefit Policy Manual, Chapter 15, Section 220.3B, Documentation Requirements for Therapy Services, indicates that the amount of time for each specific intervention/modality provided to the patient is not requir ed to be documented in the Treatment Note.  However, the total number of timed minutes must be documented.  These examples indicate how to count the appropriate number of units for the total therapy minutes provided.  Example 1    24 minutes of neuromuscul ar reeducation, code 97112, 23 minutes of therapeutic exercise, code 97110,  Total timed code treatment time was 47 minutes.   See the chart above.  The 47 minutes falls within the range for 3 units = 38 to 52 minutes.   Appropriate billing for 47 minutes is only 3 timed  units. Each of the codes is performed for more than 15 minutes, so each shall be billed for at least 1 unit.  The correct coding is 2 units of code 97112 and one unit of code 97110, assigning more timed units to the service that took the most time.   Example 2    20 minutes of neuromuscular reeducation (97112)  20 minutes therapeutic exercise (97110),  40 Total timed code minutes.  Appropriate billing for 40 minutes is 3 units.  Each service was done at least 15 minutes and should be billed for at  least one unit, but the total allows 3 units.  Since the time for each service is the same, choose either code for 2 units and bill the other for 1 unit.  Do not bill 3 units for either one of the codes.     Example 3    33 minutes of therapeutic exercise (97110),   7 minutes of manual therapy (97140),  40 Total timed minutes   Appropriate billing for 40 minutes is for 3 units.  Bill 2 units of 97110 and 1 unit of 97140. Count the first 30 minutes of 97110 as two full units.  Compare the remaining time for 97110 (33- 30 = 3 minutes) to the time spent on 97140 (7 minutes) and bill the larger, which is 97140.  Example 4    18 minutes of therapeutic exercise (97110),  13 minutes of manual therapy (97140),  10 minutes of gait training (97116),    8 minutes of ultrasound (97035),  49 Total timed minutes   Appropriate billing is for 3 units.  Bill the procedures you spent the most time providing.  Bill 1 unit each of 97110, 97116, and 97140.  You are unable to bill for the ultrasound because the total time of timed units th at can be billed is constrained by the total timed code treatment minutes (i.e., you may not bill 4 units for less than 53 minutes regardless of how many services were performed).  You would still document the ultrasound in the treatment notes.   Example 5   7  minutes of neuromuscular reeducation (97112)  7  minutes therapeutic exercise (97110)  7 minutes manual therapy (97140)    21 Total timed minutes   Appropriate billing is for one unit.  The qualified professional (See definition in Pub. 100-02, chapter 15, section 220) shall select one appropriate CPT code (97112, 97110, 97140) to bill since each unit was performed for the same amount of time and only one unit is allowed.   NOTE:  The above schedule of times is intended to provide assistance in rounding t ime into 15- minute increments.  It does not imply that any minute until the eighth should be excluded from the total count.  The total minutes of active treatment counted for all 15 minute timed codes includes all direct treatment time for the timed codes.   Total treatment minutes -  including minutes spent providing services represented by untimed codes -  are also documented.  For documentation in the medical record of the services provided see Pub. 100- 02, chapter 15, section 220.3.  D.  Specific Limits fo r HCPCS     The Deficit Reduction Act of 2005, section 5107 requires the implementation of clinically appropriate code edits to eliminate improper payments for outpatient therapy services.  The following codes may be billed, when covered, only at or below the  number of units indicated on the chart per treatment day.  When higher amounts of units are billed than those indicated in the table below, the units on the claim line that exceed the limit shall be denied as medically unnecessary (according to 1862(a)(1) (A)).  Denied claims may be appealed and an ABN is appropriate to notify the beneficiary of liability.   This chart does not include all of the codes identified as therapy codes; refer to section 20 of this chapter for further detail on these and other the rapy codes.  For example, therapy codes called always therapy must always be accompanied by therapy modifiers identifying the type of therapy plan of care under which the service is provided.  Use the chart in the following manner:   The codes that are al lowed one unit for Allowed Units in the chart below may be billed no more than once per provider, per discipline, per date of service, per patient.  The codes allowed 0 units in the column for Allowed Units, may not be billed under a plan of care indic ated by the discipline in that column.  Some codes may be billed by one discipline (e.g., PT) and not by others (e.g., OT or SLP).   When physicians/NPPs bill always therapy codes they must follow the policies of the type of therapy they are providing e.g ., utilize a plan of care, bill with the appropriate therapy modifier (GP, GO, GN), bill the allowed units on the chart below for PT, OT or SLP depending on the plan.  A physician/NPP shall not bill an always therapy code unless the service is provided under a therapy plan of care.  Therefore, NA stands for Not Applicable in the chart below.   When a sometimes therapy code is billed by a physician/NPP, but as a medical service, and not under a therapy plan of care, the therapy modifier shall not be use d, but the number of units billed must not exceed the number of units indicated in the chart below per patient, per provider/supplier, per day.