90846: Family psychotherapy without the patient present
90846 is family therapy where the identified patient, your child or teen client, is not in the session. It is the code for parent sessions that are part of the child's treatment: parent coaching, behavior planning, working on the family system.
- Kind
- CPT code
- Family
- family
- Time
- About 50 minutes
- Who bills
- Therapists, Psychologists, Associates
- Telehealth
- Eligible
- Add-on
- Stands alone
When to use it
Use it when you meet with a parent or caregiver, without the child, to advance the child's treatment plan, and the session runs 26 minutes or more. Parent management training sessions for a young child's behavior are the classic case.
When not to
Do not use it for a two-minute scheduling call, for a session where the child is present (that is 90847), or when the parent is your client in their own right (that is the parent's own individual therapy under their own record).
With children and families
This is one of the most useful codes in child work and one of the most under-used. Parent sessions are treatment, not administration, when they change what happens at home. Record that the session was for the identified patient's plan, who attended, and the specific parenting interventions. On Emora the child remains the identified patient in the chart.
Questions about 90846
- Is a parent session billable if my client is a six-year-old?
- Yes. That is exactly what 90846 is for, when the work is for the child's treatment.
- What is the minimum time for 90846?
- 26 minutes.
- Can I bill 90846 for a school meeting?
- No. Case consultation with a school is not family psychotherapy; ask about the payer's rules for consultation, which are usually not covered.
Related
General information for licensed clinicians, not billing advice. Insurers reimburse each code differently and payer contracts control; Emora handles the billing.
Bring your license. We bring the families.
Apply to Emora Health. You see your per-session pay inside the application, before any call, and you hear back within 48 hours. Less than 7% of applicants are accepted.