Learn how to bill CPT Code 90834 for 45 minute individual therapy sessions. Discover billing best practices and 90834 reimbursement rates. The Current Procedural Terminology (CPT ®) code 90834 as maintained by American Medical Association, is a medical procedural code under the range - Psychotherapy Services and Procedures.
CPT code 90834 is the standard billing code for individual psychotherapy sessions lasting approximately 45 minutes. It covers face-to-face psychotherapy lasting 38 to 52 minutes, provided by a licensed mental health professional in an outpatient setting. What Is CPT Code 90834? CPT code 90834 is billed for services rendered to a single patient/ client for a psychotherapy session that is 45 minutes long.
cpt code 90834, 90834 requires the session to be between 38 and 52 minutes in order to bill for it. CPT 90834 is the standard billing code for an individual psychotherapy session lasting 38 to 52 minutes — commonly referred to as the "45-minute therapy code." It is the single highest-volume psychotherapy code in outpatient mental health settings, used across disciplines from independent therapists to hospital-based behavioral health programs. CPT code 90834 (Psytx w pt 45 minutes) had a 2026 Medicare non-facility reimbursement rate of $113.90. This reflects a 9.35% change from the prior year. The code carries 3.41 total RVUs across work, practice expense, and malpractice components.
cpt code 90834, This code is not to be reported in conjunction with crisis codes 90839, 90840. Psychotherapy codes 90832, 90834 and 90837 refer to psychotherapy without medical management. This guide breaks down everything you need to know about CPT 90834: the exact time requirements, current reimbursement rates, documentation essentials, and the common pitfalls that trigger audits. The standalone codes (90832, 90834, 90837) are for therapy-only sessions. When you're doing medication management and therapy in the same visit, you bill an E/M code for the medication portion plus an add-on psychotherapy code.
