Responsibilities of the Chiropractic Assistant An assistant is someone who helps or assists another person. In this case, the chiropractic assistant assists the chiropractor in managing patients in a chiropractic clinic. He or she serves as the primary customer service representative for the chiropractic clinic. The duties of the CA vary depending on the size…
Certified Chiropractic Clinical Assistant Training is now available as part of Library Membership! This official training is for those who wish to certify through the Federation of Chiropractic Licensing Boards (FCLB). The KMC University Library is an online resource for chiropractors and their teams that provides access to a vast array of educational materials and resources related to Medicare, documentation, billing, coding, compliance, and the business aspects of running a chiropractic practice. It can help chiropractors and their teams stay up-to-date on the latest regulations and best practices, as well as save time and money by avoiding costly mistakes. Click here to learn more.
Download Support Tool As with any healthcare profession, there is a ‘language’ to be learned by all those who work with a treating physician. A Chiropractic Assistant must learn the language of chiropractic services. Even if you have a general knowledge of the medical field, chiropractic has some less common terms that must be mastered….
Certified Chiropractic Clinical Assistant Training is now available as part of Library Membership! This official training is for those who wish to certify through the Federation of Chiropractic Licensing Boards (FCLB). The KMC University Library is an online resource for chiropractors and their teams that provides access to a vast array of educational materials and resources related to Medicare, documentation, billing, coding, compliance, and the business aspects of running a chiropractic practice. It can help chiropractors and their teams stay up-to-date on the latest regulations and best practices, as well as save time and money by avoiding costly mistakes. Click here to learn more.
As a Chiropractic Assistant you may come across misinformed individuals. Although the different myths may vary, we have summarized some of the most common. Take a moment to review these and sound them down into your mind so that when the time comes you can tactfully correct the individual. Myth #1 The AMA and MDs…
Certified Chiropractic Clinical Assistant Training is now available as part of Library Membership! This official training is for those who wish to certify through the Federation of Chiropractic Licensing Boards (FCLB). The KMC University Library is an online resource for chiropractors and their teams that provides access to a vast array of educational materials and resources related to Medicare, documentation, billing, coding, compliance, and the business aspects of running a chiropractic practice. It can help chiropractors and their teams stay up-to-date on the latest regulations and best practices, as well as save time and money by avoiding costly mistakes. Click here to learn more.
Chiropractic Education Whether this is your first exposure to the chiropractic profession or not, it is important that you know the facts about the Doctor of Chiropractic’s (DC) education and qualifications. Unfortunately, over the years chiropractors have taken a verbal beating from the medical community. Although time has proven the important role they play in…
Certified Chiropractic Clinical Assistant Training is now available as part of Library Membership! This official training is for those who wish to certify through the Federation of Chiropractic Licensing Boards (FCLB). The KMC University Library is an online resource for chiropractors and their teams that provides access to a vast array of educational materials and resources related to Medicare, documentation, billing, coding, compliance, and the business aspects of running a chiropractic practice. It can help chiropractors and their teams stay up-to-date on the latest regulations and best practices, as well as save time and money by avoiding costly mistakes. Click here to learn more.
Chiropractic care focuses on treating disorders of the musculoskeletal system and the nervous system. This tutorial provides a brief introduction to the history and philosophy of chiropractic and how it has progressed over time. It includes helpful facts and numbers to strengthen the CA’s knowledge of this amazing profession. Remember, there are a variety of…
Certified Chiropractic Clinical Assistant Training is now available as part of Library Membership! This official training is for those who wish to certify through the Federation of Chiropractic Licensing Boards (FCLB). The KMC University Library is an online resource for chiropractors and their teams that provides access to a vast array of educational materials and resources related to Medicare, documentation, billing, coding, compliance, and the business aspects of running a chiropractic practice. It can help chiropractors and their teams stay up-to-date on the latest regulations and best practices, as well as save time and money by avoiding costly mistakes. Click here to learn more.
The 8-Minute & 15-Minute Rule
In order to seek reimbursement for a unit of service for a constant attendance modality or a therapeutic procedure, the provider must spend at least eight minutes (just past the halfway point of 15 minutes) providing that service to the patient. According to CMS (Medicare) guidelines[1], if the service is performed for less than eight minutes, do not bill for the code. The 8-Minute Rule further dictates that in order to bill for additional time-based units, you must spend at least eight minutes providing one-on-one service to the patient to warrant the additional code. For any single timed CPT code on the same day, measured in 15-minute units, providers must bill a single 15-minute unit for treatment greater than or equal to 8 minutes through (and including) 22 minutes. If the duration of any single modality or procedure completed in a day is greater than or equal to 23 minutes (through and including 37 minutes) then 2 units are billed.
Total Billable Units
The units per number of minutes are calculated as follows:
| Units |
Time Window |
| 1 |
Greater than or equal to 8 minutes through 22 minutes |
| 2 |
Greater than or equal to 23 minutes through 37 minutes |
| 3 |
Greater than or equal to 38 minutes through 52 minutes |
| 4 |
Greater than or equal to 53 minutes through 67 minutes |
If multiple time-based services are performed on the same day in increments of 7 minutes or less and the total time is 8 minutes or greater, bill one unit for the service performed for the most minutes. This is allowed because the total time for all services was greater than the minimum time for one unit.
Note: only direct, one-on-one time with the patient is considered for timed codes.
Another easy calculation for billing multiple timed codes performed during the same visit is:
If 8 minutes or more are leftover, bill one additional unit. If 7 minutes or less are leftover, do not bill an additional unit.
[1] Medicare Claims Processing Manual, 100-4, Chapter 5, Sections 10, 20, 30, 40, 100 Medicare Benefit Policy Manual, 100-2, Chapter 15, sections 220 and 230