TILT – Therapeutic Innovations in Light of Technology
BY Bruce Hillowe
Financial and Legal Issues in Telephone Psychotherapy Private insurers generally do not reimburse for telephone psychotherapy. No CPT code for psychotherapy can be used for telephone therapy because it’s not a face-to-face service. Because it can be considered misleading, patients treated telephonically should not be billed for "individual psychotherapy," nor should their services be coded as 90806 or any other CPT code. Rather, in billing use the description "telephone psychotherapy" without any accompanying CPT code. Some insurers will, however, allow use of such CPT coding for and reimbursement of episodic telephone sessions such as when an established patient is away on vacation or home ill. But as far as I know, none allow these for regularly planned or frequent telephone therapy. Exceptions may be
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granted; you, the patient, or both of you may make a case to insurers that one is warranted, but prior full disclosure to the insurers would be required. There are standard of care issues as well. Can you provide psychotherapeutic treatment that meets customary standards for safety and efficacy by means of planned regular use of the telephone as a primary means of