Psychotherapy sessions lasting longer than 60 minutes

[EmilyMess]

I am doing some billing for a LCSW and she has one patient in particular with which she has been spending 80-90 minutes each session.  While I was billing for her last year when we had the old codes, she didn't have this patient so I never had to deal with it before. I of course have been sending in the regular length (60min) claims with the 90837 code.  Is there some add-on code or something I can do to bill for the extra 20-30 minutes she spends with this patient?
Thank you!

[PMRNC]

Is there some add-on code or something I can do to bill for the extra 20-30 minutes she spends with this patient?
Thank you!

Short answer is NO. the 90837 is the higher of the new psychotherapy codes. There was no replacement for the 90808. Therapists will need to see the patient for shorter times or eat the additional time past 45-53 min. Most carriers won't even authorize over 60 min the 90837 is 53 minutes and beyond.   There are new crisis codes for psychotherapy but the documentation must support : "life threatening or patient in severe distress which requires immediate clinical attention." The first 60 min is billed with 90839 and an add-on code of 90840 for each additional 30 min of crisis counseling/trmt. It's noted that the overuse of these codes could signal audit's so if using them be sure the chart is clearly documented to reflect the actual crisis and severity.

The new psychotherapy codes did cut down time spent with patient and since she is LCSW she cannot use the add on E/M codes.