Billing Reference
CPT code 90837: the 60-minute therapy session
CPT code 90837 is the individual psychotherapy code for sessions of 53 minutes or more, the code most therapists use for a full hour of therapy. Under CMS billing guidance the code follows documented psychotherapy time, not the scheduled slot: 38 to 52 minutes bills 90834, and 53 minutes or more bills 90837. Below is the full time rule, the documentation the note has to carry, and the boundaries with 90834, 90832, and 90838, with the CMS source behind every rule.
Part of CPT Codes for Therapists, the plain-English lookup verified against public CMS billing guidance.
What CPT code 90837 covers
Individual psychotherapy, 53 minutes or more. The extended individual psychotherapy session.
90837 is the extended individual psychotherapy session and the longest of the three time-banded individual codes: 90832 covers 16 to 37 minutes, 90834 covers 38 to 52 minutes, and 90837 covers everything from 53 minutes up, with no upper bracket in the CMS time rule.
The label "60-minute session" is shorthand. What the code actually turns on is documented psychotherapy time with the client. An appointment booked for an hour that includes 50 minutes of psychotherapy is a 90834 session, and a session that reaches 53 documented minutes is 90837 regardless of what the calendar said.
The Rules
Time rule and documentation for 90837
Paraphrased from public CMS billing guidance, with the source documents linked below the notes.
- CMS time rule: 53 minutes or more of psychotherapy.
- Document start and stop times or the total time spent.
- A prolonged-service code may be reportable at 90 minutes or more when the visit is not billed with an evaluation and management service.
The Boundaries
90837 next to its neighboring codes
90837 vs 90834: the 53-minute line
The line is 53 minutes. CMS guidance assigns 38 to 52 minutes of psychotherapy to 90834 and 53 minutes or more to 90837. The code follows the documented time, so a session that ends at 50 minutes of psychotherapy is 90834 even if it was booked as an hour. The full 90834 vs 90837 comparison linked below breaks the choice down session by session.
90837 vs 90832: the short-session code
90832 is the short-session code, covering 16 to 37 minutes of psychotherapy. Below that floor there is nothing to bill: under CMS guidance, psychotherapy of less than 16 minutes is not billable at all.
90837 vs 90838: standalone vs add-on
90838 covers the same 53 minutes or more band, but as an add-on billed alongside an evaluation and management (medical) service in the same visit. A standalone therapy session has no medical visit attached, so it bills 90837. If you do not bill medical visits, 90838 is not your code.
Common Questions
Questions therapists ask about 90837
How many minutes do you need to bill CPT code 90837?
At least 53 minutes of psychotherapy. CMS guidance sets the individual psychotherapy brackets at 16 to 37 minutes for 90832, 38 to 52 minutes for 90834, and 53 minutes or more for 90837. Document start and stop times or the total time spent.
Can I bill 90837 just because the session was scheduled for an hour?
No. The code follows the documented psychotherapy time, not the scheduled slot. An hour-long appointment with 48 minutes of documented psychotherapy bills 90834. Record start and stop times or the total time for every session so the code choice is defensible.
What happens if a session runs 90 minutes or longer?
Under CMS guidance, a prolonged-service code may be reportable at 90 minutes or more of psychotherapy when the visit is not billed with an evaluation and management service. Prolonged services are not reportable with the psychotherapy add-on codes. Verify prolonged-service rules with your payer before billing.
What documentation does 90837 need?
Time, at minimum: record start and stop times or the total time spent, since session length is exactly what separates 90837 from 90834. The note itself also has to support the service you billed.
Why are there no reimbursement rates on this page?
Reimbursement varies by payer, locality, and year, so a single national number would be wrong for most readers. Check your payer contracts for your actual rates, or the CMS Physician Fee Schedule lookup tool for Medicare amounts in your locality.
Is this the official CPT description of 90837?
No. Everything on this page is a plain-English summary written by Reframe Practice and verified against public CMS billing guidance, with the sources linked above. CPT is a registered trademark of the American Medical Association, and this page does not reproduce the CPT code set. Always confirm code selection against your payer contracts.
Keep Going
Related codes and tools
The code is the easy part. The note has to hold up too.
Time-based codes only survive an audit when the documentation behind them does. Generate a structured progress note in SOAP, DAP, BIRP, GIRP, PIRP, or Narrative format from a short session summary. Free, no account required.
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This is an informational tool, not billing, legal, or clinical advice. You are responsible for selecting the correct codes for your services and for verifying coverage, code definitions, and documentation requirements against your payer contracts and the current code set.
CPT is a registered trademark of the American Medical Association. This page does not reproduce the CPT code set or its official descriptors. Every description here is a plain-English summary written by Reframe Practice and checked against the CMS public billing documents linked above.