Billing code 90853: Group psychotherapyMedicare rate & RVUs in Oklahoma
Report group psychotherapy when a clinician provides therapeutic treatment to a patient as part of a group, rather than in an individual or family session.
Medicare pays $29.50 for 90853 in the office in Oklahoma (Oklahoma). Which amount applies depends on the service address.
Medicare allowed amount for participating (non-QP) physicians, before deductible, coinsurance and claim adjustments. Not a patient’s bill or a hospital charge.
On this page 9 sections
What 90853 covers
A clinician leads a therapeutic session in which multiple patients work on behavioral health concerns through guided discussion, therapeutic exercises, and interaction with the group. Psychiatrists, psychologists, and other qualified mental health professionals may provide the service in settings such as an outpatient office or hospital outpatient department. The group session is distinct from a meeting limited to multiple families receiving treatment together.
Report 90853 for each patient receiving group treatment, supported by that patient’s record—not once for the group as a whole. Documentation should identify the group service, its therapeutic focus and interventions, and the patient’s attendance, participation, response, and connection to the treatment plan. Select this code for group psychotherapy, not for an individual psychotherapy session or family psychotherapy. CMS assigns work, practice-expense, and malpractice relative values; the practice-expense values differ between office and facility settings.
This summary was written with AI assistance from CMS physician fee schedule data and checked against the CMS billing rules shown here. Rates on this page come directly from CMS files.
90853 in Oklahoma
| Payment locality | Office | Facility |
|---|---|---|
| Oklahoma | $29.50 | $24.13 |
How the 90853 rate is calculated
Each of 90853’s three RVUs is multiplied by a geographic index (GPCI) for the payment locality, added up, and multiplied by the conversion factor. Drag the indexes or enter a ZIP to see what moves the rate.
How the rate is built · 90853
RVUs × geographic indexes × conversion factor
Work0.67
0.67 RVUs× 1.000 GPCI
Practice expense0.23
0.23 RVUs× 1.000 GPCI
Malpractice0.01
0.01 RVUs× 1.000 GPCI
Adjusted RVUs
0.9100
Conversion factor
$33.4009
Medicare rate
$30.39
Every GPCI starts at 1.000, the national rate. Enter a ZIP or drag a slider.
Payment rules and modifiers for 90853
90853 has no global surgery period, no multiple-procedure, bilateral or assistant-at-surgery adjustment, and no professional/technical split. What changes the payment is where the service happens: the place of service on the claim decides whether Medicare pays the office or the facility rate.
Place of service · 90853
Which rate does Medicare pay?
The POS code on the claim line (CMS-1500 box 24B).
POS 11 · non-facility rate · national
$30.39
- Non-facility (office)
- $30.39
- Facility
- $24.38
Higher because the practice carries its own overhead.
90853 compared with similar codes
Compare codes · National
4 codes, side by side
How to choose
- 90849Family group therapy
- Use 90849 when the group psychotherapy is for multiple families. Use 90853 for group psychotherapy that is not a multiple-family group.
- 90832Psychotherapy session
- 90832 represents individual psychotherapy; 90853 represents psychotherapy delivered to a patient as part of a group.
- 90847Family therapy
- 90847 is family psychotherapy with the patient present. 90853 is group psychotherapy, not a family session.
90853 billing questions
How is 90853 different from individual psychotherapy?
90853 describes treatment delivered in a group setting. Use an individual psychotherapy code when the clinician treats the patient individually rather than as part of a group.
Is 90853 billed once for the group or for each patient?
Report the service for each patient who receives group treatment. Each patient’s own record must support attendance, participation, and medical necessity.
Does 90853 cover multiple-family group therapy?
No. Multiple-family group psychotherapy is represented by 90849; 90853 is for group psychotherapy that is not a multiple-family group.
What should the record include for 90853?
Document the group’s therapeutic focus and interventions, the patient’s attendance and participation, the patient’s response, and how the service relates to the treatment plan.
Does group size require a modifier?
Group size is not specified by 90853. Record the patient’s attendance and participation in the clinical note.
Where these rates come from
FeeBase calculates base physician payments from CMS work, practice-expense and malpractice RVUs, adjusted by each locality’s geographic indexes and the conversion factor. Services without a published rate are labeled, never given a made-up amount. Amounts are Medicare allowed amounts before claim adjustments: not a patient’s bill or a commercial rate.
CMS RVU26D · effective Oct 1, 2026 through the day before Jan 1, 2027
Show the CMS file lines behind this rate
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