CPT 99484 bills care management services for behavioural health conditions: at least 20 minutes of clinical staff time in a calendar month, directed by a physician or other qualified health care professional. It is the general behavioural health integration (BHI) code for care models other than the Collaborative Care Model.

What must 99484 include?

Per CMS: an initial assessment or follow-up monitoring, including applicable validated rating scales; behavioural health care planning, with revision for patients who are not progressing or whose status changes; facilitating and coordinating treatment such as psychotherapy, pharmacotherapy, counselling, or psychiatric consultation; and continuity of care with an appointed care team member.

How is 99484 different from 99492?

99492 is the Collaborative Care Model: 70 minutes in the first month and a required behavioural health care manager and psychiatric consultant. 99484 is general BHI: 20 minutes a month, and a care manager or psychiatric consultant is optional. The billing practitioner can deliver general BHI in its entirety.

Under Medicare, physicians and non-physician practitioners whose scope of practice includes E/M services. Clinical psychologists and clinical social workers bill the parallel Medicare code G0323 for at least 20 minutes of their own time per month, with a psychiatric diagnostic evaluation (90791) as the initiating visit.

Can 99484 be billed in the same month as CoCM?

No. CMS does not allow general BHI codes in the same month as psychiatric CoCM codes for the same patient. Different months can use different models.

Does 99484 need an initiating visit and consent?

Yes. A qualifying initiating visit (annual wellness visit, initial preventive physical exam, comprehensive E/M visit, or transitional care management visit) comes first. Consent can be verbal if documented, and the patient must be told cost sharing applies.

How often can 99484 be billed?

Once per calendar month when the 20-minute threshold and the required elements are met. Medicare's MUE for 99484 is 1 unit per date of service, with adjudication indicator 2 (a policy edit).

99484·CPT (AMA)

General Behavioural Health Integration (BHI)

CPT 99484 bills at least 20 minutes a month of behavioural health care management by clinical staff under a billing practitioner. Required elements, roles, and limits.

CPT 99484 at a glance

CPT 99484
Collaborative care
General Behavioural Health Integration (BHI)
Typical reimbursement
Varies by payer
US national commercial medians; varies by payer, plan and contract.
Scales that bill here
4 validated scales
A claim needs both a CPT and an ICD-10 code. ICD-10 reference

What general BHI is

General behavioural health integration covers care models that build mental health care into a medical practice without the full Collaborative Care Model structure. CMS describes these models as ones that:

Systematically assess and monitor clients.
Adjust care plans for clients who are not improving adequately.
Provide a continuous relationship with an appointed care team member.

General BHI can also report models that do not involve a psychiatric consultant or behavioural health care manager, although those roles may deliver it.

Time requirements

Code	Time per calendar month	Whose time
99484	At least 20 minutes	Clinical staff, directed by the billing practitioner
G0323 (Medicare)	At least 20 minutes	Clinical psychologist or clinical social worker
99492 (CoCM)	First 70 minutes, first month	Behavioural health care manager

CMS states that CPT time rules apply. Administrative and clerical time does not count toward the threshold. For the Collaborative Care Model, see CPT 99492.

Required elements

CMS lists these for 99484:

Assessment or monitoring using applicable validated rating scales, such as the PHQ-9, GAD-7, or AUDIT.
Care planning for behavioural or psychiatric health problems, including revising the plan when the client is not progressing or their status changes.
Facilitating and coordinating treatment: psychotherapy, pharmacotherapy, counselling, or psychiatric consultation.
Continuity of care with an appointed care team member.

Who does what

Billing practitioner. Directs the clinical staff, oversees care, and may deliver general BHI in its entirety.
Clinical staff. Hold a continuous relationship with the client and a collaborative relationship with the care team. Administrative and clerical staff time does not count.
Care manager and psychiatric consultant. Optional for general BHI; required for CoCM.
Supervision. General supervision; care team members are employed by or contracted to the billing practitioner.

Billing rules

Monthly. Bill once for the calendar month in which the 20 minutes and the required elements are met.
Initiating visit first. An annual wellness visit, initial preventive physical exam, comprehensive E/M visit, or transitional care management visit.
Documented consent, verbal acceptable, including notice that cost sharing applies.
Not with CoCM in the same month for the same client.
MUE: 1 unit (adjudication indicator 2).
Advanced primary care management. From January 1, 2026, CMS added optional HCPCS add-on codes for general BHI and CoCM delivered in the same month as advanced primary care management.

Where measurement fits

General BHI is billed on time, but the required elements are about change: monitoring with validated scales and revising the plan when a client is not improving. A dated score history on the same scale is the clearest record that both happened. Scale scoring at a face-to-face visit is billed under CPT 96127; check NCCI edits and payer policy before billing it in a BHI month.

Assessments that bill under CPT 99484

These validated scales are commonly administered, scored, and documented under this code.

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Frequently asked questions

What is CPT 99484?
CPT 99484 bills care management services for behavioural health conditions: at least 20 minutes of clinical staff time in a calendar month, directed by a physician or other qualified health care professional. It is the general behavioural health integration (BHI) code for care models other than the Collaborative Care Model.
What must 99484 include?
Per CMS: an initial assessment or follow-up monitoring, including applicable validated rating scales; behavioural health care planning, with revision for patients who are not progressing or whose status changes; facilitating and coordinating treatment such as psychotherapy, pharmacotherapy, counselling, or psychiatric consultation; and continuity of care with an appointed care team member.
How is 99484 different from 99492?
99492 is the Collaborative Care Model: 70 minutes in the first month and a required behavioural health care manager and psychiatric consultant. 99484 is general BHI: 20 minutes a month, and a care manager or psychiatric consultant is optional. The billing practitioner can deliver general BHI in its entirety.
Who can bill 99484?
Under Medicare, physicians and non-physician practitioners whose scope of practice includes E/M services. Clinical psychologists and clinical social workers bill the parallel Medicare code G0323 for at least 20 minutes of their own time per month, with a psychiatric diagnostic evaluation (90791) as the initiating visit.
Can 99484 be billed in the same month as CoCM?
No. CMS does not allow general BHI codes in the same month as psychiatric CoCM codes for the same patient. Different months can use different models.
Does 99484 need an initiating visit and consent?
Yes. A qualifying initiating visit (annual wellness visit, initial preventive physical exam, comprehensive E/M visit, or transitional care management visit) comes first. Consent can be verbal if documented, and the patient must be told cost sharing applies.
How often can 99484 be billed?
Once per calendar month when the 20-minute threshold and the required elements are met. Medicare's MUE for 99484 is 1 unit per date of service, with adjudication indicator 2 (a policy edit).

Sources

1. 1.American Medical Association. Current Procedural Terminology (CPT) 2026, code 99484.
2. 2.Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. MLN909432 Booklet: BHI Services, January 2026 (general BHI model, required elements, 20-minute threshold, G0323, initiating visit, consent, billing practitioners, same-month limit with CoCM).
3. 3.Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. Medicare NCCI Practitioner Services Medically Unlikely Edits, table effective 2026-10-01 (99484 = 1 unit, adjudication indicator 2). MUE values are revised quarterly; confirm the current table before relying on this figure.

General Behavioural Health Integration (BHI)

CPT 99484 at a glance

CPT 99484

Typical reimbursement

Scales that bill here