Similar to Chronic Care Management (CCM), Medicare pays providers for managing a patient's behavioral health conditions every month using CPT 99484 (Behavioral Health Integration).
Time and Staff Requirements
99484 ↗ requires at least 20 minutes of clinical staff time per calendar month. This time is spent coordinating care, monitoring the patient's progress using validated rating scales, and facilitating changes in treatment.
General BHI vs CoCM
99484 is for "General" BHI, meaning the primary care provider is managing the care, but does not necessarily have a formal psychiatric consultant on staff. (If you DO have a psychiatric consultant, you would bill the more complex Psychiatric Collaborative Care Management [CoCM] codes: 99492, 99493, 99494).
NCCI Edits
You cannot bill 99484 in the same month as CoCM codes (99492) or standard Chronic Care Management (99490) if the time overlaps. Ensure your staff is tracking time strictly per program.