Screening and Behavioral Counseling Interventions in Primary Care to Reduce Alcohol Misuse | HCPCS Code G0442

The  US Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) recommends screening for alcohol misuse and behavioral interventions for individuals whose screening results are positive.

Medicare pays for an annual screening for alcohol misuse for all Medicare beneficiaries using HCPCS code G0442.

For those who screen positive, Medicare also pays for a brief face-to-face behavioral counseling session, HCPCS code G0443.

The first of these codes, the screening, has a time range of 5—15 minutes. The second is 15 minutes, so in order to bill them, the record must show that the service took over half of the threshold time, or 7.5 minutes.

G0442 annual alcohol misuse screening, 5—15 minutes

G0443 Brief face-to-face behavioral counseling for alcohol misuse, 15 minutes

All Medicare patients are eligible for screening, and patients who have a positive screen for alcohol misuse are eligible for counseling. Screening is covered annually, and counseling for those who screen positive, is covered four times/year.

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