This article covers CPT® and diagnosis codes used for screening for other sexually transmitted illnesses. It includes descriptions and screening criteria. To tell whether or not you can collect a co-pay for the testing or not can be found on the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPTF) website [1]. The Affordable Care Act mandated that […]
Billing for Pap Smear
Billing for pap smears in a physician practice can be confusing for clinicians and coders alike. Pap smears can be screening services or diagnostic services There is a HCPCS code for obtaining a screening pap smear, Q0091 Performing a pelvic exam is either part of a preventive medicine service or problem oriented visit A new […]
G0101 Pelvic and Breast Exam
Medicare has HCPCS codes for screening services for women Both G0101 (screening breast and pelvic exam) and Q0091 (obtaining a screening pap smear) may be billed every two years for a low-risk patient and every year for high-risk patients These are not comprehensive preventive medicine services They may be billed on the day of a […]
Preventive Medicine Services – Medicare
Medicare has very specific requirements for preventive services. What can you bill, what must you document? This article covers all the bases including tips for billing the Welcome to Medicare and Annual and Subsequent Wellness Visits. More tips for preventive medicine and split visits can be found here. See also Q&A from the Preventive Medicine […]
Age and Wellness Visits | Eligibility for Welcome to Medicare
Who can perform the AWV Knowing which Medicare wellness visit to bill Eligibility requirements for the Welcome to Medicare visit AWV and chronic care management A few years ago, I gave an AWV presentation at a family medicine conference and afterwards a physician said to me, “What you just told me will pay for the […]
Screening and Behavioral Counseling Interventions in Primary Care to Reduce Alcohol Misuse | HCPCS Code G0442
Information about these services, and other screening/preventive care is found on the CMS website CMS MLN Medicare Preventive Services Educational Tool. The reference is now MLN006559. The page was updated in 2025 to include: Added crisis support contact information Added information for safety planning for patients at risk for suicide Added information for follow-up contacts […]
Billing Preventive Medicine Services and Problem Visit | Quick Reference Sheet
This quick reference sheet provides guidance for billing preventive medicine services and split visits.
Intensive Behavioral Counseling for Cardiovascular Disease, HCPCS Code G0446
Medicare pays a primary care physician or other primary care practitioner in a primary care setting to annually provide one face-to-face behavioral counseling session for cardiovascular disease. Although CMS has developed a HCPCS code specifically for this service, many primary care clinicians perform this service as part of an E/M service or a wellness visit. […]
Behavioral Counseling for Obesity, HCPCS Code G0447
G0447 face-to-face behavioral counseling for obesity, 15 minutes G0473 Face-to-face behavioral counseling for obesity, group (2-10) 30 minutes Medicare pays for ongoing face-to-face behavioral counseling for patients with a body mass index (BMI) of ≥ 30, who are alert and able to participate in counseling. The service may be performed by a physician or non-physician […]
Prolonged Services Codes for Medicare Preventive Medicine Services: G0513, G0514
Did you (or your clinician) ever have a wellness visit that took a really, truly, madly long time? And wondered what—if anything—you could bill with it? Wonder no more.