Eli's Rehab Report

Reader Question:

Physical Therapy Codes

Question: Can CPT 97530 (therapeutic activities) be billed with 97140 (manual therapy), 97014 (electrical stimulation) or 97035 (ultrasound) on the same date of service?

Florida Subscriber

Answer: According to version 6.0 of the National Correct Coding Initiative, there are no coding edits for these codes when performed together, which means that HCFA does not find these codes to be mutually exclusive when billed together on the same date of service. Therefore, the answer is yes with the following stipulations:

Codes 97530, 97140 and 97035 require direct contact with the patient and are billed in 15-minute increments;
Code 97014 requires direct supervision, but not one-on-one contact with the patient; and
Only one unit of 97014 per day can be billed.