Billing and revenue-cycle support built specifically for mental and behavioral health practices.
For therapists, LCSWs, LMHCs and LPCs, LMFTs, psychologists, psychiatrists and PMHNPs, in solo and group practice.
Behavioral health billing is not a simplified version of medical billing. It is a separate discipline with its own codes, its own payer structures, and its own documentation rules. CareVixis was built to master every layer of it, from time-based CPT coding and psychotherapy add-on codes to carve-out payer routing, prior authorization tracking, and same-day denial resolution. One fee covers it all.
We review how your practice runs before we promise anything. If your practice qualifies and we can't identify $500 in measurable opportunity in 30 days, we credit your Growth Account. If we don't hit the improvement we agreed within 90 days, we refund eligible CareVixis fees for the guarantee period.
See Guarantee TermsWe don't make a performance promise before we've seen how your practice actually runs. We review your billing, revenue cycle and related operations, establish where you stand today, and agree the measures with you. If your practice qualifies, we put our fees behind our recommendations.
If we can't identify and document at least $500 in measurable financial opportunity in your first 30 days, we'll add $500 to your CareVixis Growth Account, a service credit toward eligible CareVixis services. It has no cash value.
If we don't achieve the improvement we agreed with you within your first 90 days, we'll refund the eligible CareVixis fees you paid for the guarantee period.
No sales pitch. No obligation. No BS.
Not every practice qualifies. See Guarantee Terms
Over the past several months we have worked hands-on with mental health professionals, listening to what was quietly draining their time and building CareVixis around the fixes we found together. This is a 90-second overview of what that looks like and why the conversation starts with your practice, not ours.
These are the areas that keep coming up in our conversations with mental health professionals. Not because anyone is doing something wrong, but because these things are easy to overlook when you are focused on delivering care.
We review your claims submission process, CPT code usage, modifier application, and how your billing is currently structured. Systematic undercoding and missed modifiers are among the most common, and invisible, sources of lost revenue in behavioral health.
We look at denial volume, denial reasons, and how your practice currently responds to them. Denials that are not appealed are revenue that simply disappears. Behavioral health payers deny at higher rates than most specialties, and many practices do not have a systematic process for recovery.
We examine whether eligibility is being verified before every session and how your team handles carve-out arrangements, where behavioral health benefits are managed by a completely separate payer from the medical plan. Missed carve-out verification is a leading cause of preventable claim rejections in mental health billing.
We look at which payers your providers are currently enrolled with, whether any enrollments are expiring, and whether there are payers your practice should be billing but is not. Gaps in credentialing directly restrict revenue, providers cannot bill payers they are not enrolled with, no matter how many sessions they see.
We review your accounts receivable aging to understand how much revenue is sitting uncollected and for how long. AR that ages past 90 days becomes increasingly difficult to recover. Many practices are carrying thousands of dollars in aged AR that has never been followed up on, and do not realize it.
We look at workflows, scheduling patterns, no-show rates, and administrative overhead. Operational inefficiencies do not always show up directly in your billing, but they affect how much time your team spends on non-revenue activities and where breakdowns in the revenue cycle are likely to originate.
Tell me what is working in your practice, what is frustrating, and what is taking more of your time than it should. If something I have learned from another provider could help you, I will share it. If I can point you in a better direction, I will.
If you never talk to us at CareVixis again after our call, that is completely fine. This is a conversation about your practice, where you are, what is getting in the way, and whether anything we have built could actually help.
We have spent months working hands-on with mental health professionals, listening to what was quietly draining their time. That is how CareVixis was built, around the fixes we found together. The 15 minutes is a chance for me to understand your situation and share what we have learned.
Mindfulife had been receiving payments from their payers and operating under the reasonable assumption that their billing was working. There were no major denial spikes. Claims were going out. Money was coming in.
During the CareVixis practice assessment, a different picture emerged. A review of their accounts receivable aging identified a significant volume of claims that had aged past 90 days without follow-up. Some had been partially paid and closed out too early. Others had been denied with no appeal filed. A portion had sat in a pending status that no one had flagged for review.
CareVixis identified and recovered over $13,000 in previously uncollected revenue that had been sitting in Mindfulife's AR, revenue the practice had effectively written off without knowing it. This was money earned from sessions that had already been delivered and already been billed. It simply had not been collected.
Fifteen minutes, then a written answer. This is the whole process, and it ends when you decide it does.
Fifteen minutes. Not a demo and not a pitch. You tell us what is working, what is frustrating, and what is taking more of your time than it should. If something we have learned from another practice could help you, we will share it on the call.
After the call, Jeff Norton puts together a written summary: what your practice is already doing well, where we think there is room to improve, how CareVixis could help, and what it would cost. It comes to you by email.
No follow-up sequence. No check-in calls. No drip emails. You keep the summary and you have our number. If it is useful, reach out whenever you are ready. If it is not, you spent fifteen minutes and got a second opinion on your practice.
Choose a time that works for you. This conversation is free, fully confidential, and focused entirely on your practice. Please do not submit patient names, insurance information, or any protected health information when scheduling.
General medical billing companies routinely underperform on behavioral health claims because they do not understand the code structures, payer rules, and documentation standards specific to mental health. These are not edge cases. They are the everyday reality of running a therapy or psychiatry practice that accepts insurance.
For a full breakdown of the behavioral health billing landscape, read our complete guide to mental health billing.
Mental health CPT codes are time-based, not procedure-based. The difference between billing 90834 (45-minute session) and 90837 (60-minute session) depends entirely on the documented session duration. A biller unfamiliar with these codes submits the wrong code and the practice loses revenue or triggers an audit. CareVixis verifies documented time against the billed code on every single claim.
CPT 90833 and 90836 allow psychiatrists and eligible prescribers to bill for psychotherapy provided during an E/M visit. These add-on codes represent real revenue that is routinely missed when billers do not understand psychiatric practice billing. Properly pairing the add-on with the primary E/M code and ensuring the documentation supports both services as separately identifiable is a core competency of CareVixis.
A claim submitted to the wrong payer is denied automatically. Many commercial insurance plans separate mental health benefits from medical benefits and route them through a managed behavioral health organization (MBHO): Optum, Carelon, Magellan, ComPsych, or others. Identifying the correct entity for each patient's behavioral health coverage is not optional. It is the foundation of behavioral health billing accuracy.
Behavioral health payers impose session limits and prior authorization requirements that do not apply to most medical services. Billing for a session that exceeded the authorized limit, or submitting a claim without required authorization, results in a denial that is difficult to overturn after the fact. CareVixis tracks every patient's authorization status and session count before each appointment and submits new authorization requests proactively.
Behavioral health claims require the ICD-10-CM code to reflect the full diagnostic picture documented in the clinical record, including specifiers, severity, and episode type. A diagnosis documented in DSM-5 terms can map to multiple ICD-10 codes, and the wrong one can cause a medical necessity denial. CareVixis uses a proprietary coding engine to translate clinical documentation into the correct diagnostic code on every claim.
Telehealth billing for behavioral health requires the correct place-of-service code (02 for telehealth provided in the patient's home, 10 for audio-only from the patient's home) and the correct modifier (95 for real-time audio-visual, 93 for audio-only). Payer rules on telehealth coverage and reimbursement continue to evolve. CareVixis tracks every payer's current telehealth policy and submits telehealth claims correctly every time.
CareVixis manages the complete revenue cycle for your behavioral health practice. Nothing is passed off to a third party or left for your front desk to figure out. Every step from eligibility verification through patient payment collection is owned by CareVixis.
Every patient's behavioral health benefits are verified before their appointment, not after. CareVixis identifies the correct behavioral health payer, confirms coverage, pulls session limits, deductibles, co-pays, co-insurance amounts, and prior authorization requirements. Behavioral health verification often requires contacting the MBHO directly rather than the primary commercial payer. We handle that every time.
CareVixis reviews every session note before submitting a claim. Our proprietary coding engine cross-checks the documented service against the billed CPT code, confirms time documentation for time-based codes, verifies modifier requirements, and ensures the ICD-10 diagnostic code matches the clinical documentation and meets each payer's medical necessity criteria. No claim leaves without passing this check.
Claims are submitted electronically with complete demographic, insurance, and clinical data. CareVixis monitors clearinghouse responses and corrects any rejected claims before they reach the payer, which is fundamentally different from a denial that has already been processed. Catching a rejection at the clearinghouse rather than after adjudication keeps preventable submission errors from interrupting your cash flow.
Denials are worked the same day they are received. CareVixis identifies the denial reason, determines whether a corrected claim or formal appeal is the right response, prepares the submission with all required supporting documentation, and submits immediately. Mental health claim denials have specific appeal windows and documentation requirements that vary by payer. Missing them means writing off revenue that could have been collected.
Every open balance is followed up every 14 days. CareVixis does not let claims age silently. Our AR team contacts payers directly, requests claim status updates, escalates stalled claims, and identifies patterns in delayed payments that indicate a payer-level issue requiring a different approach. The point is that no balance sits untouched while its filing window closes.
Mental health patients frequently carry high deductibles and significant co-insurance. Patient responsibility balances represent a substantial portion of behavioral health practice revenue. CareVixis manages the full patient billing cycle: statements, payment plans, automated payment reminders, and online payment processing, so patient balances are collected promptly and professionally without your team making collections calls.
Every explanation of benefits (EOB) and electronic remittance advice (ERA) is posted accurately to the patient account. CareVixis reconciles all payments against contracted rates, flags underpayments, and pursues underpaid claims through the payer's dispute process. Underpayment recovery is a commonly overlooked revenue source in behavioral health practices, particularly with managed care contracts.
CareVixis delivers dashboards showing collections, denial rate, AR aging, payer performance, and procedure code revenue distribution. Group practices get per-clinician reporting so practice owners have complete visibility into every revenue stream. Monthly reports summarize performance and identify opportunities for revenue optimization. No surprises. No black boxes. Complete transparency into every dollar your practice produces.
Behavioral health coding is more nuanced than most billing companies realize. Below are the core procedure codes CareVixis bills for mental health practices, along with the documentation requirements that determine which code is correct.
30-minute individual psychotherapy (90832) or as add-on to E/M (90833). Requires documented face-to-face time of 16-37 minutes of psychotherapy.
45-minute individual psychotherapy (90834) or as add-on to E/M (90836). Requires documented face-to-face time of 38-52 minutes of psychotherapy.
60-minute individual psychotherapy (90837) or as add-on to E/M (90838). Requires documented face-to-face time of 53 or more minutes of psychotherapy.
Psychotherapy for crisis: 90839 (first 60 minutes) and 90840 (each additional 30 minutes). Requires documentation of the crisis state, clinical decision-making, and direct involvement in stabilization.
Family psychotherapy with patient present (90847) or without patient present (90846). Payer coverage varies significantly and some plans do not cover 90846 independently.
Group psychotherapy (not family). Billed per patient, not per session. Requires documentation identifying each group participant and the therapeutic intervention provided.
CareVixis also bills psychological testing codes (96130-96146), psychiatric evaluation codes (90791, 90792), interactive complexity add-on (90785), and the full range of inpatient and partial hospitalization psychiatric codes. If it is within your scope of practice, we bill it correctly.
Most mental health billing denials are preventable. CareVixis identifies the root cause of every denial pattern and eliminates it at the source, not just on the individual claim.
The most common behavioral health denial is submitting to the medical payer when benefits are managed by a behavioral health carve-out organization. CareVixis identifies the correct payer during eligibility verification before any claim is ever submitted. This single check eliminates the largest single category of mental health billing denials.
Many behavioral health payers require authorization for ongoing therapy after an initial approval period. CareVixis tracks every patient's authorization status, monitors expiration dates, and submits renewal requests before the authorization lapses. Treating sessions that have exceeded the authorized number results in denials that are difficult or impossible to overturn retroactively.
Time-based CPT codes require documentation that unambiguously establishes the duration of the psychotherapy service. If the note documents 40 minutes of therapy but the claim bills 90837 (60-minute code), the claim will be denied or flagged for audit. CareVixis cross-checks documented time against the billed code before submission on every claim.
Behavioral health payers apply medical necessity criteria to ongoing therapy that they do not typically apply to medical services. A medical necessity denial often means the ICD-10 diagnosis code does not meet the payer's criteria for covered treatment, or the documentation does not adequately support continued treatment. CareVixis ensures diagnostic coding and documentation are aligned before submission and prepares robust medical necessity appeals when denials occur despite correct coding.
Answers to the most common questions about behavioral health billing and how CareVixis handles it.
CareVixis bills the full range of behavioral health CPT codes: individual psychotherapy (90832, 90834, 90837), crisis psychotherapy (90839, 90840), psychotherapy add-on codes (90833, 90836, 90838), group therapy (90853, 90849), family therapy (90847, 90846), psychiatric evaluations (90791, 90792), interactive complexity add-on (90785), and psychological testing codes (96130-96146). We also handle E/M codes for psychiatrists and PMHNPs and all telehealth equivalents.
CareVixis identifies the correct behavioral health payer for every patient during the eligibility verification step, before any claim is submitted. We contact the MBHO directly when behavioral health benefits are carved out from the commercial plan and confirm exact payer routing, coverage details, and any authorization requirements. Optum, Carelon, Magellan, ComPsych, and all other major MBHOs are included in our standard process.
Denials are worked the same day they are received. Our proprietary process identifies the root cause and determines whether the correct response is a corrected claim or a formal appeal, then submits immediately. All open AR is followed up every 14 days. Mental health payers have specific appeal windows and documentation requirements that vary by payer, missing those windows means writing off revenue that could have been collected. Tracking those windows per payer is part of the process.
Yes. CareVixis tracks prior authorization requirements and session limits for every active patient. We submit authorization requests proactively before the existing authorization expires or before session limits are reached. Your practice receives alerts when any patient is approaching a session limit so care planning can account for the payer's coverage rules. This is one of the most important, and most commonly neglected, aspects of behavioral health billing management.
CPT 90833 is the psychotherapy add-on code for individual psychotherapy performed during an office or outpatient E/M visit. CPT 90836 is the same add-on for psychotherapy performed during an inpatient or observation E/M visit. Both require the E/M service and the psychotherapy to be separately identifiable services documented in the clinical record. They are billed as add-ons to the primary E/M code, never as standalone codes. CareVixis correctly pairs these with the appropriate E/M code on every qualifying visit.
Yes. CareVixis bills individual therapy (90832, 90834, 90837), group therapy (90853, 90849), family therapy (90847, 90846), and couples therapy. Group psychotherapy is billed per patient per session, which means each group participant generates a separate claim. CareVixis handles the documentation and billing for every session type and verifies payer-specific coverage restrictions before submitting group or family therapy codes that some payers cover on a limited basis.
Billing is just one piece of the practice. CareVixis covers everything your behavioral health practice needs.
Credentialing gaps mean lost revenue. CareVixis manages enrollment with all payers, including behavioral health carve-out organizations that most billing companies cannot navigate.
Credentialing details →Deep dive into how CareVixis identifies, appeals, and prevents the most common behavioral health denial categories.
Denial management details →Comprehensive article covering the full landscape of behavioral health billing: codes, payers, denials, and documentation requirements.
Read the full guide →Practical strategies for preventing denials before they happen and keeping preventable errors out of your claim submissions.
Read the article →A side-by-side comparison of outsourced billing versus hiring an in-house billing team, including cost analysis and performance benchmarks.
Read the comparison →Start with a free, no-obligation practice assessment. We will review your current billing setup, identify coding gaps, and show you exactly what you are leaving on the table. No pressure. No commitment. Just a clear picture of what is possible.
No credit card. No obligation.