A crisis session bills 90839, not a long 90837
Bill 90839 for a crisis session of 30 minutes or more, and add 90840 for each 30-minute increment past 74 minutes. Medicare bars both beside 90837.
Co-founder, JotPsych
Your Medicare patient's 90837 session turns into crisis psychotherapy and runs past the hour. Pick your code by what happened, not by the minutes.
| Code | Use it for | Minutes on the date |
|---|---|---|
| 90837 | Psychotherapy without a crisis | 53 or more |
| 90839 | Psychotherapy for crisis | 30 or more |
| 90840 | Psychotherapy for crisis, added time | Each 30-minute increment past 74 |
From the mental health page of Noridian, a Medicare contractor, and a January 2025 report for the Department of Health and Human Services. The crisis codes replace 90837 only when your patient presents in crisis.
Option 1: a long 90837, for psychotherapy without a crisis
Use 90837 for your planned psychotherapy of 53 minutes or more. CPT sets that minimum. The mental health page of Noridian, a Medicare contractor, lists the minimum.
WPS processes Medicare claims for Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, Indiana, and Michigan. WPS won't pay for a session past 90 minutes unless your note shows your face-to-face time and why the extra time was medically necessary, per WPS article A57480.
Option 2: 90839 and 90840, for a crisis
Pick the crisis codes for your patient in crisis. Medicare's crisis psychotherapy page describes that patient: high distress, with life-threatening, complex problems that need your immediate attention.
The 90839 descriptor reads "first 60 minutes," but you bill 90839 alone for a crisis session of 30 to 74 minutes, per a 2025 federal report. Past 74 minutes, add one unit of 90840 for each 30-minute increment.
Don't put 90837 on your crisis claim. Medicare's page bars the crisis codes beside every other psychiatric code from 90785 to 90899, such as 90791 and 90832 to 90838. At some sites outside the office, the page lists G0017 and G0018 in place of 90839 and 90840.
Medicare won't pay for more than 1 unit of 90839 or 3 units of 90840 for your patient on one day. Medicare's medically unlikely edits set those limits.
Patient not in crisis
90 minutes of planned psychotherapy
Patient in high distress, with life-threatening, complex problems
90 minutes of crisis psychotherapy
What the session held sets the code, and the minutes set the units. A crisis note that shows 90 minutes supports one unit of each crisis code.
Show each part of the crisis session in your note. Medicare's page names three parts: an urgent assessment and history of the crisis, a mental status exam, and a disposition, what happens next for your patient. Add your minutes. WPS's coverage rules also ask for the methods you used, such as supportive or interpretive work.
Before you sign, JotAudit checks whether your note supports the crisis codes you entered.
Book 15 minutes- Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, Psychotherapy for Crisis, page last modified February 25, 2026: the patients the codes fit, and the codes not billed with them. Read October 5, 2026.
- Mathematica, for the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, The Role of the Outpatient Behavioral Health Provider in Crisis Services: Opportunities and Existing Reimbursement Pathways, January 2025, pages 1, 15, and 28: 90839 for the first 30 to 74 minutes of psychotherapy for crisis on a date, and 90840 for each additional 30-minute increment past those minutes, from the CPT manual. Read October 5, 2026.
- WPS Government Health Administrators, Billing and Coding: Psychiatry and Psychology Services, article A57480, revision effective January 1, 2026: Article Text, II, psychotherapy sessions longer than 90 minutes. Read October 5, 2026.
- WPS Government Health Administrators, local coverage determination L34616, Psychiatry and Psychology Services, revision effective October 30, 2025: the time and the methods a psychotherapy note records. Read October 5, 2026.
- Noridian Healthcare Solutions, JF Part B, Mental Health, last updated June 8, 2026: the CPT time ranges, with 90837 at 53 minutes or longer. Read October 5, 2026.
- Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, Medicare National Correct Coding Initiative (NCCI) Medically Unlikely Edits: practitioner services file effective October 1, 2026 (90839, 90840). Read October 5, 2026.