Preventive Services: Alcohol Misuse Screening and Counseling
September 1st, 2017 - Find-A-Code
The following information from the Medicare Learning Network provides guidance from the Department of Health and Human Services on Alcohol Misuse Screening and Counseling:
HCPCS/CPT Codes
| G0442 - |
Annual alcohol misuse screening, 15 minutes |
| G0443 - |
Brief face-to-face behavioral counseling for alcohol misuse, 15 minutes |
-
ICD-10 Codes
See the CMS ICD-10 webpage for individual Change Requests (CRs) and coding translations for ICD-10, and contact your Medicare Administrative Contractor (MAC) for guidance.
Who Is Covered
All Medicare beneficiaries are eligible for alcohol screening.
Medicare beneficiaries who screen positive (those who misuse alcohol but whose levels or patterns of alcohol consumption do not meet criteria for alcohol dependence) are eligible for counseling if:
- They are competent and alert at the time counseling is provided and
- Counseling is furnished by qualified primary care physicians or other primary care practitioners in a primary care setting
Frequency
- Annually for G0442
- For those who screen positive, 4 times per year for G0443
Medicare Beneficiary Pays
- Copayment/coinsurance waived
- Deductible waived
Please note: The information in this educational product applies only to the Medicare Fee-For-Service Program (also known as Original Medicare). For additional guidance on using diagnosis codes, go to the Medicare Claims Processing Manual, Chapter 18 on the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) website.
Watch the CMS Provider Minute: Preventive Services video for pointers to help you submit sufficient documentation when billing for certain preventive services.
###
Questions, comments?
If you have questions or comments about this article please contact us. Comments that provide additional related information may be added here by our Editors.
Latest articles: (any category)
Artificial Intelligence in Healthcare - A Medical Coder's PerspectiveDecember 26th, 2023 - Aimee WilcoxWe constantly hear how AI is creeping into every aspect of healthcare but what does that mean for medical coders and how can we better understand the language used in the codeset? Will AI take my place or will I learn with it and become an integral part of the process that uses AI to enhance my abilities?
Specialization: Your Advantage as a Medical Coding ContractorDecember 22nd, 2023 - Find-A-CodeMedical coding contractors offer a valuable service to healthcare providers who would rather outsource coding and billing rather than handling things in-house. Some contractors are better than others, but there is one thing they all have in common: the need to present some sort of value proposition in order to land new clients. As a contractor, your value proposition is the advantage you offer. And that advantage is specialization.
ICD-10-CM Coding of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD)December 19th, 2023 - Aimee WilcoxChronic respiratory disease is on the top 10 chronic disease list published by the National Institutes of Health (NIH). Although it is a chronic condition, it may be stable for some time and then suddenly become exacerbated and even impacted by another acute respiratory illness, such as bronchitis, RSV, or COVID-19. Understanding the nuances associated with the condition and how to properly assign ICD-10-CM codes is beneficial.
Changes to COVID-19 Vaccines Strike AgainDecember 12th, 2023 - Aimee WilcoxAccording to the FDA, CDC, and other alphabet soup entities, the old COVID-19 vaccines are no longer able to treat the variants experienced today so new vaccines have been given the emergency use authorization to take the place of the old vaccines. No sooner was the updated 2024 CPT codebook published when 50 of the codes in it were deleted, some of which were being newly added for 2024.
Updated ICD-10-CM Codes for AppendicitisNovember 14th, 2023 - Aimee WilcoxWith approximately 250,000 cases of acute appendicitis diagnosed annually in the United States, coding updates were made to ensure high-specificity coding could be achieved when reporting these diagnoses. While appendicitis almost equally affects both men and women, the type of appendicitis varies, as dose the risk of infection, sepsis, and perforation.
COVID Vaccine Coding Changes as of November 1, 2023October 26th, 2023 - Wyn StaheliCOVID vaccine changes due to the end of the PHE as of November 1, 2023 are addressed in this article.
Medicare Guidance Changes for E/M ServicesOctober 11th, 2023 - Wyn Staheli2023 brought quite a few changes to Evaluation and management (E/M) services. The significant revisions as noted in the CPT codebook were welcome changes to bring other E/M services more in line with the changes that took place with Office or Other Outpatient Services a few years ago. As part of CMS’ Medicare Learning Network, the “Evaluation and Management Services Guide” publication was finally updated as of August 2023 to include the changes that took place in 2023. If you take a look at the new publication (see references below),....
