10/31/2026
Pour yourself a cup and pull up a chair, Tea Sippers. This week on Saturday Morning Tea, I'm flying solo and taking you on a road trip through the history of evaluation and management (E/M) coding, from the 1995 and 1997 documentation guidelines to the August 2026 CPT Assistant answer that has the whole coding community talking.
When a provider documents both medical decision making (MDM) and total time, the AMA (American Medical Association) now says the provider should clearly indicate which method was used. Is that unnecessary, or is it the easiest documentation win of the year? To answer that, we go back to where it all started.
In this episode:
- How E/M levels worked from 1992 through the 1995 and 1997 guidelines
- The 2018 proposal that sparked the 2021 office visit overhaul
- What counts toward time, and what never does
- The 2023 expansion and the 2024 switch to time minimums
- What the August 2026 CPT Assistant answer does and doesn't change
- A brand-new Tea Sippers Sip, plus my answer to last week's scenario
Because when the note picks a lane and says so, it could all be so simple.
Sources: AMA, CPT Assistant, August 2026, page 18, Questions and Answers, E/M Services. Conversation sparked by a LinkedIn post from Darren Goodwin, CPC, CPC-M, CPMA, CPCO. CMS (Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services) CY 2027 Physician Fee Schedule proposed rule, CMS-1848-P (proposed, not final, as of taping).
I'm Clarice Warner, MPH, RHIA, CCS-P, CPC, The Girl with the Pearls, Founder and Senior Education Director of Professional Reimbursement Network LLC. New episodes of Saturday Morning Tea, covering Health Information Management (HIM), coding, compliance, and revenue cycle, drop every Saturday morning right here on this channel.
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