Cognitive assessment and care plan services
Cognitive decline — including Alzheimer's disease and other dementias — can be difficult and time consuming to discuss with patients. Although in-depth care planning is beneficial for all, this type of service has not been covered under Medicare — until recently.
CPT® code 99483 provides reimbursement for a clinical visit that results in a comprehensive care plan, allowing you to deliver services that can contribute to a higher quality of life for your patients. Clinicians who can be reimbursed under the code include: physicians, physician assistants, nurse practitioners, clinical nurse specialists and certified nurse midwives.
Care planning for individuals with dementia is an ongoing process and a formal update to a care plan should occur at least once per year or when indicated by disease progression.
Resources to help
Our free Cognitive Impairment Care Planning Toolkit can help you deliver person-centered care planning.
Who is eligible to receive the services?
Individuals who are cognitively impaired are eligible to receive the services under the new code. This includes those who have been diagnosed with Alzheimer's, other dementias, or mild cognitive impairment. It also includes those individuals without a clinical diagnosis who, in the judgment of the clinician, are cognitively impaired.
What elements are required?
A cognition-focused exam is comprehensive, and an interview with a family member or caregiver is always desirable and often necessary to obtain an accurate history and description of current issues.
The nine assessment service elements of 99483 listed below can be evaluated within the care planning visit or in one or more visits that precede it, using appropriate billing codes (most often an E/M code). Patients with complex medical, behavioral, psychosocial, and/or caregiving needs may require a series of assessment visits, while those with less complex problems may be fully assessed during the care plan visit itself.
Service Elements of CPT Code 99483
Resources to help you deliver
The Alzheimer's Association, with the help of an expert task force, has compiled a comprehensive toolkit to help you conduct a visit under the code. The toolkit includes easy access to validated measures, such as the Mini-Cog™ and Dementia Severity Rating Scale, and newly designed assessment tools:
Cognitive Assessment and Care Planning Services:
The Alzheimer's Association Expert Taskforce recommendations and tools for implementation.
Download (PDF)
Safety Assessment Guide and Checklist:
Questions to identify safety-related concerns and outline steps to keep the dementia patient safe.
Download Checklist (PDF)
Caregiver Profile Checklist:
Assess a caregiver's ability and willingness to provide care.
Download Checklist (PDF)
End-of-Life Checklist:
Screen to identify care preferences and legal needs.
Download Checklist (PDF)
Patient and Caregiver Resources:
Links to helpful caregiving, safety and end-of-life resources.
Download Resources (PDF)
Download Toolkit (PDF)
Alzheimer's Association Expert Task Force
Soo Borson, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, University of Washington School of Medicine, Seattle, Wash.; Memory Disorders Clinic and Dementia Health Services, University of Washington School of Medicine, Seattle, Wash.
Malaz Boustani, Indiana University Center for Aging Research, Indianapolis, Ind.; Regenstrief Institute, Inc., Indianapolis, Ind.; Department of Medicine, Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis, Ind.
Anna Chodos, Division of Geriatrics, Department of Medicine, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, Calif.; Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital, San Francisco, Calif.
Josh Chodosh, Veterans Administration Greater Los Angeles Healthcare System, Los Angeles, Calif.; Division of Geriatrics, David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, Calif.
Jatin Dave, New England Quality Care Alliance (NEQCA), Boston, Mass.
Lisa Gwyther, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, School of Medicine, Duke University, Durham, N.C.; Joseph and Kathleen Bryan Alzheimer's Disease Research Center (Bryan ADRC), Duke University School of Medicine, Durham, N.C.
Monica Parker, Division of Geriatrics and Gerontology, School of Medicine, Emory University, Atlanta, Ga.; Emory Alzheimer's Disease Research Center, School of Medicine, Emory University, Atlanta, Ga.
Susan Reed, Kelsey-Seybold Clinic, Houston, Texas
David Rueben, Division of Geriatrics, David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, Calif.
Stephen Stabile, PrimeCare Community Health, Chicago, Ill.
Matthew Baumgart, Alzheimer's Association, Chicago, Ill.
Beth Kallmyer, Alzheimer's Association, Chicago, Ill.
Joanne Pike, Alzheimer's Association, Chicago, Ill.
Bill Thies, Alzheimer's Association, Chicago, Ill.