Billing code 90832: Psychotherapy sessionMedicare rate & RVUs in Washington
Report a 30-minute individual psychotherapy session with the patient when the same clinician does not also perform a separately reported E/M service.
Medicare pays $87.70–$93.72 for 90832 in the office in Washington, from Rest Of Washington to Seattle (King Cnty). 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 90832 covers
This service involves individual psychotherapy for a mental health condition, using approaches such as cognitive behavioral, supportive, or insight-oriented therapy. The patient participates, and a family member or caregiver may join part of the session when the treatment remains focused on the patient. Psychologists, clinical social workers, mental health counselors, marriage and family therapists, psychiatric nurse practitioners, and psychiatrists provide this care in offices, outpatient clinics, inpatient settings, and through appropriate telehealth encounters.
Select 90832 based on 16 through 37 minutes of psychotherapy with the patient. At 38 minutes, consider 90834; at 53 minutes, consider 90837. Document psychotherapy time separately from any other service, along with the therapeutic approach, clinical focus, patient response, and progress toward treatment goals. If the same clinician also performs a separately identifiable E/M service during the encounter, report the appropriate E/M code with psychotherapy add-on 90833 instead of 90832. Interactive complexity add-on 90785 may accompany 90832 when its specific communication criteria are met and documented.
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.
Where 90832 pays more and less in Washington
| Payment locality | Office | Facility |
|---|---|---|
| Rest Of Washington | $87.70 | $70.47 |
| Seattle (King Cnty) | $93.72 | $73.64 |
How the 90832 rate is calculated
Each of 90832’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 · 90832
RVUs × geographic indexes × conversion factor
Work1.94
1.94 RVUs× 1.000 GPCI
Practice expense0.62
0.62 RVUs× 1.000 GPCI
Malpractice0.01
0.01 RVUs× 1.000 GPCI
Adjusted RVUs
2.5700
Conversion factor
$33.4009
Medicare rate
$85.84
Every GPCI starts at 1.000, the national rate. Enter a ZIP or drag a slider.
Payment rules and modifiers for 90832
90832 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 · 90832
Which rate does Medicare pay?
The POS code on the claim line (CMS-1500 box 24B).
POS 11 · non-facility rate · national
$85.84
- Non-facility (office)
- $85.84
- Facility
- $69.47
Higher because the practice carries its own overhead.
90832 compared with similar codes
Compare codes · National
5 codes, side by side
How to choose
- 90834Psychotherapy session
- Both are standalone individual psychotherapy. Use 90832 for 16 through 37 minutes and 90834 for 38 through 52 minutes.
- 90833Psychotherapy with E/M
- 90833 is a psychotherapy add-on reported with a separately performed E/M service by the same clinician. Use 90832 for the psychotherapy encounter without that E/M service.
- 90839Crisis psychotherapy
- 90839 requires urgent crisis assessment and intervention and sufficient crisis psychotherapy time. Use 90832 for a 16- through 37-minute individual psychotherapy encounter that does not meet those crisis criteria.
- 90847Family therapy
- 90847 is family psychotherapy with the patient present. Use 90832 when treatment focuses on the individual patient, even if a family member participates.
90832 billing questions
How many minutes are required to report this code instead of 90834?
Use 90832 for 16 through 37 minutes of psychotherapy. At 38 minutes, use 90834; at 53 minutes, use 90837.
Can a psychiatrist report this code with an office E/M visit?
When the same clinician performs a separately identifiable E/M service and psychotherapy during the encounter, report the E/M code with add-on 90833 instead of 90832. Count psychotherapy time separately from E/M time.
Can 90785 be added to this code?
Yes, when documented communication factors meet the interactive complexity criteria. Examples include caregiver behavior that interferes with treatment or using play equipment to communicate with a patient who has not developed expressive language.
How does this code differ from crisis psychotherapy?
Use 90839 instead when the encounter meets the requirements for urgent crisis assessment and intervention and the required crisis psychotherapy time is met. Add 90840 only when additional crisis psychotherapy time supports it.
Does a family member being in the room change the code?
No, if the patient participates and the psychotherapy remains focused on the patient's individual treatment. Consider 90846 or 90847 when the service is family psychotherapy, selecting between them based on the patient's participation.
What documentation supports this code?
Record the 16 through 37 minutes of psychotherapy, the therapeutic approach, clinical focus, patient response, and relationship to treatment goals. Keep any E/M time separate.
90832 is in these specialty bundles: Behavioral health
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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