CPT Code 90887: Explaining Psychiatric Results to a Patient’s Family

Quick Answers

What does CPT 90887 cover?
CPT 90887 covers a clinician explaining or interpreting psychiatric exam results, procedures, or accumulated data to a patient’s family or other responsible persons — including guidance on how to support the patient. The patient is typically not present, and it’s billed per session with no time requirement.

Does Medicare pay for 90887?
Generally, no. Because the service isn’t face-to-face with the patient, Medicare treats it as a non-covered service. Commercial and Medicaid coverage varies, so verify with the payer before the session, and consider a voluntary ABN for Medicare patients.

How is 90887 different from 90846 and 90847?
90887 is informational — explaining results, not therapy. 90846 is family psychotherapy without the patient present, and 90847 is family/conjoint psychotherapy with the patient present. Mixing up an explanation session (90887) with a therapy session (90846/90847) is the most common billing error in this code family.

What CPT Code 90887 Covers

The official AMA descriptor is:

90887, Interpretation or explanation of results of psychiatric, other medical examinations and procedures, or other accumulated data to family or other responsible persons, or advising them how to assist patient.

The defining features:

• The audience is the family or responsible persons, not the patient.
• The activity is interpreting or explaining results, not delivering therapy.
• The purpose is to help those people understand the findings and support the patient’s care.

Licensed mental health professionals, including psychiatrists and psychologists, report it when they provide that interpretation. It is a per-session code, and there is no time threshold built into the descriptor, which matters for a common myth addressed below.

The Coverage Reality: Why 90887 Often Does Not Pay

This is the part the thin reference pages leave out. Medicare generally does not reimburse 90887, because the service is not delivered face-to-face with the patient. Medicare treats interpreting data to family members without the patient present as falling outside its standard of personal services to the patient, so it is effectively a non-covered service.

Two practical consequences:

• Verify commercial and Medicaid coverage before the session. Some commercial carriers do reimburse 90887, and Medicaid rules vary by state, but you cannot assume payment. Confirm it in advance rather than after a denial.
• For non-covered services, you can bill the family or responsible person directly. With a Medicare patient, a voluntary Advance Beneficiary Notice sets expectations and prevents a surprise bill, even though an ABN is not strictly required for a never-covered service.

Coding 90887 correctly is only half the job. Knowing in advance whether it will be paid, and by whom, is what protects the revenue.

90887 vs. 90846, 90847, 90889, and 90885

This family of codes is where most denials start, because four of them look similar and only one is therapy with the patient in the room.

• 90887: Interpreting or explaining results to family or responsible persons. Informational, not psychotherapy. Patient typically not present.
• 90846: Family psychotherapy without the patient present. This is therapeutic treatment of the family system, roughly a 50 minute session, not a results briefing.
• 90847: Family or conjoint psychotherapy with the patient present. The patient’s attendance is the entire difference between 90847 and 90846.
• 90889: Preparation of a report of the patient’s psychiatric status, history, treatment, or progress for other physicians, agencies, or insurers (not legal). Like 90887, it is not face-to-face, so Medicare generally will not reimburse it either.
• 90885: Psychiatric evaluation of records or reports. Record review, which Medicare treats as bundled into other services and generally will not pay separately.

The error that costs the most: billing an informational family briefing (90887) as family psychotherapy (90846), or billing a therapy session as 90887. The test is simple. Was this treatment of the family, with the patient absent (90846), or was it explaining results to the family (90887)? They are not interchangeable.

Documentation That Supports a 90887 Claim

Because 90887 is informational and the patient is not present, documentation has to make the medical purpose unmistakable. Capture:

• Who attended, by name and relationship to the patient.
• What data was interpreted, for example the results of a psychiatric diagnostic evaluation (CPT 90791) or specific test findings.
• The purpose of the session and the guidance provided to the family on supporting the patient.
• That the session explained results and was not a psychotherapy session, which keeps it distinct from 90846 and 90847.

Vague notes such as “met with family” are what trigger audits and denials on this code.

Is There a Time Requirement for 90887?

No. Unlike 90846 and 90847, which are built around roughly 50 minute sessions, the 90887 descriptor contains no time element. It is reported per session. Documenting the duration is good practice and some payers expect a substantive session, but do not treat a specific minute count as a coding requirement, because it is not one.

Common 90887 Billing Mistakes

• Expecting Medicare to pay it. The service is not face-to-face with the patient, so Medicare generally denies it.
• Using 90887 when the encounter was actually family psychotherapy without the patient (90846) or with the patient (90847).
• Billing 90887 for a session where the patient was present and receiving therapy. That is a psychotherapy code, not 90887.
• Thin documentation that does not name participants, the data interpreted, or the purpose.
• Billing routine or informal family updates as 90887. The code requires genuine interpretation or explanation of psychiatric data, not a status check.

Frequently Asked Questions 

Note: CPT codes and descriptors are maintained by the American Medical Association and are provided here for reference. Coverage and reimbursement rules vary by payer and by Medicare contractor, so verify against current payer policies and local coverage determinations before billing.