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    OpenPayerBilling CodesSubsequent Hospital Inpatient or Observation CareCPT cpt-99231-subsequent-hospital-inpatient-observation-care-low-mdm-25min
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    CPT 99231: Subsequent Hospital Inpatient or Observation Care, Low Complexity

    Medicare pays $45 and commercial payers pay $54 on average nationally for this procedure.

    CPT code 99231 describes a subsequent hospital inpatient or observation evaluation and management (E/M) visit for an established patient, representing a low level of medical decision making or encounters where the provider spends at least 25 minutes total on the date of service; the service type is subsequent hospital inpatient/observation care and the typical site of service is an inpatient hospital or hospital observation unit.

    For related coverage guidance, see recent payer policy updates: Automated Ambulatory Blood Pressure Monitoring for Diagnosis of Hypertension in Patients with Elevated Office Blood Pressure, Cardiology - Ivabradine, Cardiac Computed Tomography (CCT)/Coronary Computed Tomographic Angiography (CCTA).

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    National Reimbursement Benchmarks

    Medicare's mean rate for CPT 99231 sits at $44.9, which is modestly below BUCA's average commercial mean of $54.0. This places Medicare roughly $9.1 lower than the BUCA mean, indicating that commercial arrangements—on average—pay more than the government payer for this inpatient follow-up code.

    Dispersion varies notably across payers. Blue Cross Blue Shield shows a relatively tight interquartile spread of $18.0 (P75 $64.2 minus P25 $44.6), while UnitedHealth Group is also comparatively constrained with a spread of $18.7 (P75 $48.7 minus P25 $30.0). The widest spreads appear with Cigna (P75 $82.5 minus P25 $42.3 = $40.2) and Aetna (P75 $80.5 minus P25 $41.0 = $39.5), reflecting greater variability in commercial contract pricing for this code.

    National Payer Mean Reimbursement Rates

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    State Reimbursement Rates

    State: Alaska1 / 51

    Rate by payer

    Clinical & Coding Specifications

    Clinical Context

    A 68-year-old male inpatient on a general medicine floor admitted two days ago with community-acquired pneumonia (J18.9) presents for routine daily follow-up by the hospitalist service. The patient has comorbid essential hypertension (I10) and type 2 diabetes mellitus without complications (E11.9). Overnight he had low-grade fevers (R50.9) and a new urinary frequency; urinalysis returned positive, raising concern for a concurrent urinary tract infection (N39.0). The hospitalist conducts a focused interval history, reviews overnight vitals and laboratory results, performs a targeted physical exam emphasizing respiratory and abdominal exams, adjusts oral antibiotics based on sensitivities, and documents clinical status, response to therapy, and plan for discharge timing. Total provider time spent coordinating care, reviewing imaging and labs, discussing with nursing and family, and documenting totals 28 minutes on the date of service, meeting the time threshold for the selected code. Typical workflow includes chart review, bedside evaluation, orders management, brief procedures if needed (e.g., catheter care), and communication with consulting services or primary care for post-discharge follow-up. Typical site of service is an inpatient hospital ward or observation unit, and the service type is subsequent hospital inpatient or observation care (evaluation and management).

    Related CPT Codes

    CPT CodeDescriptionRelationship to This Procedure

    Related Modifiers

    11 rows

    ModifierDescriptionWhen to Use
    25CPT modifier 25 indicates that on the same day as another procedure or service, the same physician or other qualified health care professional provided a significant, separately identifiable…- When to apply: Use modifier 25 only on an E/M code to indicate the same provider delivered a significant, separately identifiable E/M service on the same day as another procedure or service — i.e.,…
    57CPT® modifier -57 (“Decision for Surgery”) is appended to an Evaluation and Management (E/M) service when that encounter results in the initial decision to perform a major surgery (a procedure with a…- Use modifier 57 when an E/M service provided by the same provider (or same tax ID) on the day of or the day before a major surgical procedure (90‑day global period) results in the initial decision…
    24Modifier 24 denotes an unrelated evaluation and management (E/M) service performed by the same physician or qualified healthcare professional during a postoperative global period. Per CPT guidance,…- Use modifier 24 when you report an evaluation and management (E/M) service performed by the same physician or same-specialty group during a procedure’s postoperative global period that is unrelated…
    59Modifier 59 indicates a distinct procedural service when two procedures that are not normally billed together are clinically and procedurally separate. The CPT definition (as reiterated by CMS)…- Use modifier -59 to report a distinct procedural service when documentation supports that the procedure reported is not normally billed together with another service on the same day because of a…
    76Modifier -76, Repeat Procedure or Service by Same Physician or Other Qualified Health Care Professional, is appended when the same provider performs an identical, medically necessary procedure or…- Use modifier -76 when the same physician or other qualified health care professional performs an identical procedure or service a second (or subsequent) time on the same date of service and the…
    52Modifier ‑52 (Reduced Services) indicates that a service or procedure was partially reduced or omitted at the provider’s discretion, allowing reporting of the basic procedure number with a qualifier…- Use modifier -52 when a physician or qualified health professional electively reduces or omits part of a procedure or service (for example, performing fewer required views or omitting a portion of…
    53Modifier 53 (Discontinued Procedure) signals that a surgical or diagnostic service was begun by the physician but terminated because of extenuating circumstances that threatened the patient’s…- Use modifier -53 when a physician/qualified healthcare professional has started a surgical or diagnostic procedure (e.g., anesthesia administered, incision or scope insertion) and then discontinues…
    78CPT modifier -78 indicates an unplanned, related return to the operating or procedure room by the same provider during the global postoperative period. It is appended when treatment for a…- Use modifier -78 when an unplanned, related complication during the original procedure’s global postoperative period requires the patient to return to a formal operating or procedure room and the…
    96Modifier 96 is appended to CPT codes to indicate that a service or procedure was provided for habilitative purposes — i.e., to help a patient learn, maintain, or improve skills and functioning for…- Use modifier -96 when a procedure or service that could be either habilitative or rehabilitative is provided specifically for habilitative purposes — i.e., to help a patient learn, maintain, or…
    95Modifier 95 indicates that a service was provided via synchronous, real‑time audio‑video telehealth rather than in‑person. Per CMS, AAPC and professional associations, append modifier 95 to claim…- Use modifier 95 to indicate a service was furnished via synchronous, real‑time audiovisual telehealth (a live audio‑video conference between patient and provider) rather than in‑person. - Pair…

    Showing 1–10 of 11

    Related Provider Taxonomies

    8 rows

    Taxonomy Code
    208M00000X
    207R00000X
    208D00000X
    207SM0001X
    2080B0002X
    246QH0600X
    261QA0600X
    332BN1400X

    Related ICD-10-CM Codes

    28 rows

    ICD-10-CM CodeDescription
    A41.9Sepsis, unspecified organism
    B20Human immunodeficiency virus [HIV] disease
    C34.90Malignant neoplasm of unspecified part of unspecified bronchus or lung
    E11.9Type 2 diabetes mellitus without complications
    E78.5Hyperlipidemia, unspecified
    F03.90Unspecified dementia, unspecified severity, without behavioral disturbance, psychotic disturbance, mood disturbance, and anxiety
    G40.909Epilepsy, unspecified, not intractable, without status epilepticus
    G93.40Encephalopathy, unspecified
    H25.9Unspecified age-related cataract
    I10Essential (primary) hypertension

    Showing 1–10 of 28

    Related Payer Policy Updates

    Specialty: Cardiology1 / 3

    10 rows

    PolicyPayerEffective Date
    Automated Ambulatory Blood Pressure Monitoring for Diagnosis of Hypertension in Patients with Elevated Office Blood PressureBluecross Idaho2026-11-01
    Cardiology - IvabradineCigna2026-10-15
    Cardiac Computed Tomography (CCT)/Coronary Computed Tomographic Angiography (CCTA)univerahealthcare2026-10-15
    Percutaneous Ventricular Assist DeviceUnitedHealthcare2026-10-01
    Cardiovascular Disease Risk AssessmentOscar Health2026-10-01
    Biomarkers for Myocardial Infarction and Chronic Heart FailureOscar Health2026-10-01
    Multiple Procedure Payment Reduction for Diagnostic Cardiovascular ProceduresBlue Cross Blue Shield - Maine2026-10-01
    Left Atrial Appendage Closure Devicesexcellus_health_plan_inc2026-09-17
    Left Atrial Appendage Closure Devicesuniverahealthcare2026-09-17
    Cardiac Omnibus CodesCigna2026-09-15

    Related Codes

    CPT-99232-SUBSEQUENT-INPATIENT-OBSERVATION-MODERATE-COMPLEXITY

    CPT 99232: Subsequent Hospital/Inpatient or Observation Care, Moderate Complexity

    CPT-99233-SUBSEQUENT-HOSPITAL-CARE-HIGH-COMPLEXITY

    CPT 99233: Subsequent Hospital/Observation Care, High MDM or 50 Minutes

    Frequently Asked Questions

    References

    1. 1.CPT® Codes and Descriptions. AAPC. Retrieved Aug 11, 2026.Maintains the CPT code set's official descriptions and guidelines, licensed from the American Medical Association, used as the definitional source for CPT codes on this page.
    2. 2.HCPCS Quarterly Update. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS). Retrieved Aug 11, 2026.CMS's quarterly release of HCPCS Level II codes and short/long descriptors, the source for HCPCS code definitions and update history.
    3. 3.ICD-10-CM Full Code List. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS). Retrieved Aug 11, 2026.CMS's complete ICD-10-CM diagnosis code list, used to cross-reference diagnosis codes associated with this procedure or service.
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    Trek Health ingests and normalizes Transparency in Coverage data and payer policy updates to give provider organizations a clear view of how commercial reimbursement behaves across markets, payers, and services. Our platform transforms raw payer disclosures into structured intelligence that supports contract evaluation, payer negotiations, and service line strategy. By combining market benchmarks with ongoing policy visibility, Trek helps teams identify variability, risk, and opportunity in commercial reimbursement. The result is faster insight, stronger negotiating positions, and more informed financial decisions.

    99232Subsequent hospital inpatient or observation care, per day, requiring moderate level of medical decision making or 35 minutes total timeRepresents the next higher complexity level when the visit requires moderate decision making or the provider documents 35+ minutes on the date of service
    99233Subsequent hospital inpatient or observation care, per day, requiring high level of medical decision makingUsed when the subsequent inpatient visit requires high complexity decision making and corresponds to the highest level of subsequent care