To answer Cherylpeters question, both the guidelines and the code description are accurate. The code description for 90839 is psychotherapy for a crisis, first 60 minutes. The guidelines help us understand how to use them since therapy sessions aren't uniform and can run short or last longer depending on circumstances. That's why the guidelines give windows of time to show which code is appropriate.
90839 is used for the first hour, and +90840 is used for each additional 30 minutes. However, the patient needs to be seen for at least 30 minutes for 90839 to be used. And then, beyond that first hour, the patient needs to be seen for a minimum of 15 minutes additional minutes for +90840 to be used.
So the guidelines are saying that 90839 covers 30mins up to 74 minutes
and then the add on code +90840 is for 15mins. up to 44 mins., beyond that first hour.
For me, seeing different time examples always helps me understand they timed/add on codes work together. So here are a couple examples:
Crisis psychotherapy:
10 minutes = Neither code
30 minutes = 90839 (Min. amount of time for this code to be used)
74 minutes = 90839 (Max amount of time for this code to be used)
75 minutes = 90839, +90840 ( min. amount)
104 minutes (1 hr + 30 min. + 14 min.) = 90839, +90840 (max time for these codes)
105 minutes (1 hr + 30 min. + 15 min.) = 90839, +90840, +90840 (min time for these codes)
134 minutes (1 hr + 30 min. + 44 min.) = 90839, +90840, +90840 ( max time for these codes)
135 minutes (1 hr + 30 min. + 30 min. +15 mins) = 90839, +90840, +90840, +90840 (min time for these codes)
164 minutes (1 hr + 30 min. + 30 min. + 44 mins) = 90839, +90840, +90840, +90840 (max time for these codes)
30-74 mins. =90839
75-104 mins =90839, 90840
105-134 mins = 90839, 90840, 90840
135-164 mins = 90839, 90840, 90840, 90840 and so on.