Common Questions About Acupuncture

Which time do I bill on?

Hands-on contact time, never retention. Retention is how long the needles were in; contact is time you spent personally with the patient. The software derives retention from the needle times and will not let it reach the units.

How are the units worked out?

On the 8-minute midpoint rule, from contact time only: under 8 minutes is no unit, 8 to 22 minutes is one, 23 to 37 is two, 38 to 52 is three, and so on in 15-minute steps. The first unit is the initial code and the rest go to the additional code.

What decides 97810 against 97813?

Whether electrical stimulation was recorded — either on the treatment as a whole or on any single needle. The panel shows which code was chosen and why.

Can I override the units?

Yes. Set the line’s rule to FIXED and type the units you want. The software stops deriving that line and bills what you tell it.

Does the module track needle stock?

No. Acupuncture charts and bills only; nothing is taken off inventory.

Why can I not see acupuncture points in the product list?

Points are a separate catalog, not products. A point has no cost, vendor, lot or stock level, and putting several hundred of them into the product catalog would clutter every product search, count sheet and reorder report in the system.

Are the safety cautions clinically reviewed?

The cautions that ship with the catalog are drawn from published safety consensus and are marked as provisional pending licensed review. They are shown because having the warnings is better than not having them, but they do not replace your own training and judgement. Your practice can edit any of them.

Does a caution stop me needling a point?

Never. Nothing in the module blocks a point. A contraindication asks you to record a reason before the treatment is billed, and that is all.

Why did my press tack make the count look wrong?

It should not. Tick Retained on that row and it is subtracted from what has to come out. A retained needle only counts as unaccounted for when nobody has said it was left in on purpose.

Can I chart acupuncture and an office visit on the same encounter?

Yes. Posting will point out if the evaluation and management code has no modifier 25, which most payers need when it is billed alongside acupuncture. The module tells you and offers to add it; it will not add one on its own.

Can I bill dry needling as well?

Yes, on 20560 and 20561. Dry needling is counted by muscle groups and never by time — one or two groups is 20560, three or more is 20561. Billing it on the same date as the timed acupuncture codes usually needs a distinct-procedure modifier, and some states restrict who may bill it at all. Check with your biller.

I changed a point in the catalog. Did it change my old notes?

No. Every charted needle keeps its own copy of the point name, channel and maximum depth as they were on the day. Correcting the catalog never rewrites a past encounter.