Billing Service for a Solo Psychiatrist: What You Can Hand Off
A solo psychiatrist billing service takes the claims side of your practice off your desk so you can spend your hours with patients. It does not take over your clinical decisions or your documentation. You still choose the codes that match what you did. The service turns that work into clean claims, tracks payment and chases denials.
What does a solo psychiatrist billing service handle?
Psychiatry billing is different from therapy billing. You bill evaluation and management (E/M) visits, and you often add a psychotherapy add-on code on the same day. Add-on codes such as 90833, 90836 and 90838 are billed only with an E/M service, never alone. Our guide to the psychotherapy add-on codes explains the time ranges, and our E/M code glossary defines the base codes.
7 tasks you can hand off
- Insurance verification. Checking benefits before the first visit. See insurance verification and eligibility checks.
- Claim creation and submission. Building the claim from your visit notes and sending it electronically. Read about electronic claims submission.
- Payment posting. Matching each payment and adjustment to the claim.
- Denial follow-up and appeals. See denied claim follow-up and appeals.
- Secondary claims. Sending the balance to a second payer. See secondary claims billing.
- Credentialing support. Keeping enrollments and renewals moving. See credentialing.
- Reporting. Showing you what was billed, paid and still open.
What do you still own?
You own the clinical note, the diagnosis and the choice of E/M level. You also keep your prescriber credentials current, including your DEA registration and your state requirements for e-prescribing. The DEA Diversion Control Division is the source for registration rules. A billing service can only bill what your note supports.
Private payers vs Medicare vs Medicaid
Private payers. Each plan sets its own rules for E/M levels, add-on codes and telehealth. Policies change, so verify with the plan.
Medicare. Medicare follows its own coverage and enrollment rules. See our Medicare behavioral health billing guide and the CMS pages it links to.
Medicaid. Each state sets its own rates, codes and managed care rules. This varies by state, so never assume one state’s rules apply in another.
One more point for prescribers: ask the service how it handles a visit where you bill an E/M code and a psychotherapy add-on on the same day. The add-on must be supported by a separately documented psychotherapy service, and your note should show both pieces. A solo psychiatrist billing service should flag notes that do not, before the claim goes out instead of after a denial. See electronic claims for therapists for how clean claims move through a clearinghouse.
How to decide if it fits
Ask what the service does with an add-on code denial, how it reports to you, and who answers your questions. Our guide to how practices pay a billing service covers fee structures in general terms. For the bigger picture, read mental health billing for private practice, outsourcing therapy billing and who we serve. MCM South works with both psychotherapists and psychiatrists.
Frequently asked questions
Do solo psychiatrists need a different kind of billing service?
They need one that understands E/M visits and add-on psychotherapy codes, not only therapy codes. Ask how the service handles same-day E/M plus add-on claims.
Can a billing service choose my E/M level?
No. The level comes from your documentation and your clinical judgment. A service bills what your note supports.
Will a billing service help with denials?
Yes. Following up on denied and rejected claims, correcting errors and filing appeals is a core part of the work.
Do I still need to keep my own records?
Yes. You are responsible for your clinical documentation and for any compliance obligations that apply to your practice.
A good solo psychiatrist billing service reports back clearly. Ask what the solo psychiatrist billing service sends you each month, and how your solo psychiatrist billing service flags notes that cannot support the code you chose.
Where MCM South Medical Billing Service Works
MCM South Medical Billing Service, LLC works with psychotherapists and psychiatrists in our ten currently served states: Georgia, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Texas, Florida, New York, Colorado, Tennessee, North Carolina and Illinois.
Get a Free Quote to talk through your practice.
