90847: Family psychotherapy with the patient present
90847 is family therapy with your child or teen client in the room alongside parents, siblings, or caregivers. The work is with the family system, and the child is the identified patient.
- 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 the child is present and the session is conjoint family work of 26 minutes or more: repairing parent-teen conflict, family communication, planning around a behavior plan with everyone present.
When not to
Do not use it for an individual session where a parent sits in the corner (that is 90832 to 90837 with the child as patient), or for a session where the child steps out and the rest is parent work (consider 90846 for that day if the parent segment is the whole session).
With children and families
Decide before the session which frame you are in. If the goal is the child's individual work with a parent present for support, bill the individual code. If the goal is the family relationship, bill 90847. Write down who attended and how the interventions addressed the family, not only the child.
Questions about 90847
- Can 90847 be billed on the same day as an individual session?
- Some payers allow both when documented as separate services; many do not. Emora checks the plan.
- Does 90847 need the whole family?
- No. The child plus at least one family member is enough.
- Is 90847 telehealth-eligible with people in two locations?
- Yes. Note where each participant joined from.
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.